WIFE RELEASED FROM CUSTODY AFTER SHOOTING DEATH OF REV. NOAH SHEPHERD IN LEMON GROVE

Update July 16, 2021:  D.A. announces no charges filed -- Gabriela Shepherd was scheduled to be arraigned at the El Cajon courthouse Thursday, but District Attorney spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said in a statement,"Charges are not being filed at this time. The investigation is ongoing and we will review the case as we get more information."  Shepherd has been released from Las Colinas and will be reunited with the couple's two children, NBC 7 reports.

By Miriam Raftery

July 14,2021 (Lemon Grove) – Gabriela “Gabby” Rose Shepherd, 26, has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of her husband, Rev. Noah David Shepherd, 29.  The couple has two young children, Sam and Joel.

Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call reporting gunfire on July 12 around 6 p.m. found the victim in the backyard of the couple’s home in the 2500 block of Camino de las Palmas, Lemon Grove. Despite lifesaving efforts by deputies until fire personnel arrived, Noah Shepherd was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a hospital.

Gabby Shepherd claimed that she had accidentally shot her husband when he entered their home through a back door, said Lt. Mike Arens with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. However following an investigation by the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit, Gabby Shepherd was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder.

She was taken to the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee and will be arraigned Thursday afternoon. She is being held without bail.

No motive has yet been announced.

Noah Shepherd has served as pastor of the San Diego Reformed Presbyterian Church on College Blvd. in San Diego’s Rolando neighborhood since November 2020. He and Gabby had been married since 2016 and their Facebook pages had happy images of the couple, with no hint of trouble.

The church released this statement:  “ The Pacific Coast Presbytery, and the San Diego Reformed Presbyterian Church, express our heartbreaking sorrow over the passing of our brother and fellow-laborer, Rev. Noah Shepherd. We will remember Rev. Shepherd for the hope of the gospel message he not only preached, but believed. We mourn, not as those without hope, but as those eagerly awaiting eternal life. This was Noah’s hope, and we rejoice that he is with his crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ, whom he loved and proclaimed. Out of respect for the grieving, we ask on behalf of the family and church members that they be permitted to grieve in peace.”

Noah attended Providence Christian College in Pasadena and the Westminster Seminary in Escondido, where he graduated in 2020.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200. You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. 

Westminster Seminary California held a prayer meeting on Zoom last night.  In a statement, Rev Chuck Tedrick, Dean of Students, said in a letter to alumni, “He is loved, and he will be missed.”