The man who led authorities on a daylong search after girlfriend was found dead Monday is in custody and facing charges.
Jerome “Jerry” Sheridan, 49, was located by Hillsborough County deputies in the Citrus Park Town Center Mall late Monday afternoon. He was being sought by authorities in Hernando County after his girlfriend, Lee Ann Shoeman, 55, of Spring Hill was found dead at her home.
Shoeman was an English teacher at Central High School in Brooksville.
Hillsborough deputies said they found Sheridan in his car in the mall parking lot with self-inflicted wounds after he tried to take his own life. He was treated at Tampa General Hospital and then booked into Orient Road Jail.
Authorities said Sheridan will be extradited to Hernando County to face a first-degree murder charge.
Deputies had been searching for his car, a 1971 Pontiac GTO with no front fender and black stripes on the sides. They warned the public not to go anywhere near Sheridan or the car but to call 911 instead.
When Shoeman didn't show up for work Monday, a school secretary called the sheriff’s office, and deputies made a well-being check.
When deputies arrived at her house on Meredith Drive, they found her body.
Grief counselors will be on hand at Shoeman’s school on Tuesday to help students and faculty members. Shoeman, a teacher in the district since 2002 had been at Central since 2011.
Neighbors said the two were living together and had dated in the past.
Detectives have not said how Shoeman was killed or what may have sparked her killing. Officials did say that people who knew the couple said they fought often.
"It creeps me out," said neighbor Robert Marinelli. "You never know whose going to be doing what."