Joan Everette, 51, was shot and killed on August 19, 2011 while sitting in her car in the Columbus Regional Healthcare System parking lot in Whiteville, North Carolina. The shooting occurred about 7 a.m. and resulted in her immediate death. Police identified the shooter as her estranged husband, Elijah Jones, then 68, who said he acted in self-defense, claiming he thought her companion, Bobby Ray Shipman, was reaching for a gun under the front seat.

Prosecutors said Jones had been following the couple after discovering them together in a motel about three weeks earlier. A jury rejected the self-defense claim and convicted Jones of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and two counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle. Jones was sentenced to life without parole. The case underscored the deadly consequences of domestic violence in a public setting.

If anyone knew Joan Everette or has information about her life or the events leading up to that morning, please share what you know.