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Alexis Garth, a 26-year-old Alabama woman, was shot to death on New Year’s Day near the 22000 block of Oakdale Ridge Lane in Athens. Officials said that she was the victim of a domestic violence shooting and was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Ky’ruan Yarbrough.
Officials said they found the woman bleeding to death in the driveway of her Athens home. Meanwhile, her family members alleged that Yarbrough shot her five times following a domestic dispute.
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of domestic abuse that may trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
Alexis Garth was a mother to two daughters aged 3 years and 8 months. She reportedly died while trying to shield her 3-year-old from the shooting, who later hid under a car in the driveway. Family members also claimed that the shooting happened while the former attempted to leave the abusive relationship.
A look into the Alexis Garth shooting incident
In the wake of Alexis Garth’s shooting incident, her mother Shunetta Garth took to Facebook live to share the circumstances leading up to her daughter's death. Shunetta said that her daughter visited her home on New Year’s Day and went to Huntsville to spend time with her friends.
Shortly after, Yarbrough allegedly showed up at Shunetta’s house to drive Garth back to their home. After the latter left, several family members went to Buc-ee’s and her sister Miracle Scott noticed that she had left her keys in Garth’s car.
Garth met Scott at the store and returned her keys before going home. A short time later, she called Scott to get the child. The latter appeared in the Facebook video and said:
“She [Alexis Garth] was crying and asking him to get away from her with the gun. And then I called her back and that’s when I heard it.”
Shunetta added that she heard Yarbrough’s voice could be heard on the phone saying:
“I’m going to kill her [the child], kill you and kill myself.’’
Right after the call, Shunetta contacted 911 and headed towards Garth’s home. Upon reaching the location, the former saw both her daughter and Yarbrough laying in the driveway.
Shunetta initially assumed that the couple were being detained due to an investigation into the domestic dispute before realizing that Garth was dead:
“That’s when the realization kicked in that my daughter wasn’t laying there because she was in a domestic. My daughter was laying there with blood running down the sidewalk like water when you wash a car.”
She further added:
“The reason my granddaughter was in front of that car – she was smart enough to go hide under a car. My daughter died protecting her daughter. He shot my daughter five times.”
Shunetta also mentioned that officers told her Yarbrough shot Alexis Garth when they were pulling up:
“The officer told me when they were pulling up, he shot her. He laid himself on the ground, pushed the gun over and said he surrendered.”
Brock Suggs, a man who was house-sitting in the home next to Garth’s house at the time of the shooting, also opened up about the incident while speaking to 48 WAFF. He said:
“I heard the dogs barking about 4 o’clock in the morning so I thought they might have wanted to go out but they ran straight to the front door. So I poked my head out and I just heard some people saying ‘get behind the car, get behind the car, so I shut the door and locked it.”
Suggs added that he saw Alexis Garth’s body while standing outside and saw Yarbrough being arrested:
“When I stood outside there was a body laying on the ground and they were taking away a guy in handcuffs and the grandmother was out there, she was screaming and yelling, she was pretty distraught. Which I can understand. And then they kind of taped everything off until nine or ten this morning.”
Miracle Scott further revealed that her sister was dating Yarbrough for a little over a year when their relationship turned abusive. She claimed that Garth even planned to leave her boyfriend in the next few weeks:
“We didn’t think it would get to this point no, because she had plans to leave in the next few weeks. She tried to leave him, and he wouldn’t let her.”
Speaking to WAAY 31 ABC, Scott described her sister as “family-oriented”:
“She was a light, very family-oriented, a great friend. You could talk to her about anything. She could light up a room by just walking in it. Beautiful smile, just an all-around good person — definitely somebody who didn't deserve to die like this.”
Scott also said that the family hopes to get justice for Alexis Garth and spread awareness amongst more people so that “this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Following the shooting incident, Garth was taken to Huntsville Hospital and pronounced dead on the spot. Meanwhile, Yarbrough was charged with capital murder and is currently being held in the Limestone County Jail.
As per legal documents, Yarbrough is facing a capital charge because Alexis Garth was shot to death in front of her 3-year-old daughter. A Limestone County judge has ordered Yarbrough to be held without bond.
