Deaf woman stabbed to death by ex-boyfriend outside of gym

Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: On March 1st at around 7:30 am in Ocoee, Florida (an area near Orlando), a Deaf woman was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend who is also Deaf. This tragic incident happened outside in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness gym in Ocoee. The Deaf woman’s name was Jessica Steigelman (38) and the name of the Deaf man who stabbed her is Shannon King (55).

[Screenshot of news article from Fox 35 with the headline, “Orlando man arrested after woman stabbed to death outside Ocoee Planet Fitness, police say”]

According to Jessica’s friends, Jessica and Shannon were together for 10 years, but broke up 3 years ago however there were some ongoing relationship complications. Her friends said that Shannon kept stalking Jessica and harassing her. This behavior kept increasing and led to the fatal incident that happened on March 1st.

I will summarize what the police records said about what happened on that day. Warning, some of the descriptions may be triggering.

Based on the witnesses, they said that Jessica parked her car outside of Planet Fitness and one person did see Shannon approaching Jessica’s car and that person said Shannon did not seem angry or anything so the person went inside Planet Fitness but immediately heard noises outside so that person flagged down an officer. Another person was stepping out of the car and heard a woman screaming. This person did not realize how serious it was until that person passed Jessica’s car and saw that Shannon was actively stabbing her with a large kitchen knife. So this person called another person for help and the both of them were able to pin Shannon down until the police arrived. Jessica was brought to the hospital, but she died due to her injuries.

Shannon is charged with homicide, first-degree premeditated murder. Under the state of Florida, this offense is punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole or death penalty. There will be a hearing this Friday.

We have connected with two of Jessica’s friends and they did post a video on Facebook about the situation, (link to their video in the transcript)- we asked them to share about how they knew Jessica and who she was as a person. The two friends being interviewed are Rebecca King (same last name, but no relationship with Shannon) and Sydney Brown.

(Begin interview)

Renca: Thank you for being willing to talk about Jessica. This is a really tragic incident. Can you both briefly describe your relationship with Jessica? How many years were you friends? Let’s start with you, Sydney.

Sydney Brown: I joined FSDB when I was in the 5th grade and she was in the 6th grade. She took 6th grade again and we just clicked from there. We have been close since. After we graduated high school, we were roommates at an apartment. We’ve gone through a lot together. Good times. A lot of memories. It’s been over 20 years. I’m grieving.

Rebecca King: I’ve known Jessica for 20 years. She was my dorm roommate and a classmate. She was very funny. We did go through a lot together back then in 6th to 8th grade. We had our conflicts but we still loved each other. It’s really touching.

Renca: It’s really tragic what happened to Jessica. I saw community members say that Jessica was in a relationship for 10 years and broke up three years ago. It seems that King still pursued her. I’m curious if you’ve seen King yourself? Or never met him?

Sydney: I met him once at a DNO event in Orlando. He seemed very quiet and laid back. Jessica didn’t pay attention and was hanging out with friends. She was with me as we socialized. King seemed to be really quiet.

Rebecca: I’ve never met him. But I’ve heard he’s a very quiet person.

Renca: You didn’t expect that this would happen at all?

Sydney: Right. I didn’t expect it.

Rebecca: I didn’t expect it at all either.

Renca: So three years ago, was King pursuing and harassing Jessica? Did you see this happen?

Sydney: Yes, in January – actually in September, she stayed at my place for two nights. I saw her getting many calls and ignoring them. She was sick of all the FaceTime calls. It was harassing. She tried to ignore it and have a good time. She would sometimes take calls to “shut him up.” I did meet him once on a call. He didn’t really remember me because it was a long time ago, in 2016. So he didn’t remember. I was cool about it. But in January, it seemed to get worse. There were constant calls and it was nonstop. I tried to tell Jessica to ignore them. She said, “I know.” After that… things happened.

Renca: What are some things about Jessica that you can share with the Deaf community to remember her by? For those who don’t know her or never met her, what are some things that you want to remember about Jessica?

Sydney: She was a beautiful soul. She had a golden heart. Very sweet. We had some conflicts but she was very flexible and willing. She would be there. She was funny, too. We had many inside jokes from middle school. Facial expressions.

Rebecca: Many inside jokes.

Sydney: Remember this?

Rebecca: Yeah, that one!

Sydney: We laughed a lot. When we grew up and became adults, we changed. But we were still close, no matter what. We were there for each other. She had a good family as well. She was very close with her sister and mother. Also, one of her closest friends was Ashely. Since she was two. She didn’t want to be here because she’s grieving so much. They grew up together since two years of age, can you imagine that? They were like sisters. We met her at FSDB later on.

Rebecca: I will never forget how she sent me money through CashApp for my wedding gift. That was our last conversation.

Sydney: Bachelorette–

Rebecca: –Yes, the bachelorette weekend. Very touching. Our final hug was in January. I will never forget that hug. We hugged very tightly and I told her that I missed her.

Renca: Very touching. Thank you for sharing that.

(End interview)

Renca: Thank you both for your time. There is a GoFundMe to help the family with the funeral expenses. Rebecca and Sydney both mentioned that the family is grieving and really needs financial support. We included the link in this transcript. We send our condolences to Jessica’s family, friends, and those who are impacted by her tragic death.

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Sponsored video by Convo: www.convorelay.com

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988 Helpline (Description)

Exciting News! The 988 Lifeline launched new American Sign Language services for callers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It’s a new resource for people to access help when they need it. Visit 988lifeline.org and select “ASL Now.”

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GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/7cf36668

Rebecca and Sydney video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Kt54SFQbWUjxGbZD/?mibextid=oFDknk

Article:

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/homicide-reported-at-ocoee-planet-fitness-police-say