Where Is Frances Zaayer Now? Inside the Killer's Life After Shooting Neighbors amid Months-Long Feud

Caroline BlairFri, July 3, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC

0

Frances Zaayer; Shawna in Worst Neighbor Ever: Season 1.Credit: Kentucky Department of Corrections; Courtesy of Netflix -

Frances Zaayer was a longtime family friend of the Scott family and lived with them during a difficult time in her life

Shawna Scott and her husband, David Scott, let Zaayer stay with them while she waited for her neighboring home to be ready

Shawna and Zaayer started experiencing problems, which eventually resulted in Zaayer harassing the couple and later shooting them, as depicted in the Netflix docuseries Worst Neighbor Ever

Frances Zaayer leaned on Shawna Scott and her family after going through a difficult time in her life.

Shawna extended Zaayer the invitation to live with her and her husband, David Scott, in their home in the small town of Mount Sterling, Ky., as Zaayer was going through a divorce and waiting for renovations to be completed on a neighboring home. Soon though, Shawna noticed some of Zaayer's strange behaviors — including scolding her grandson, getting upset over cleaning habits and allegedly showing them racist videos.

In January 2017, Shawna told Zaayer that she had to move out of their home. Two months later, Zaayer moved into a home across the street and continued harassing Shawna and David, as well as their other family members who lived nearby.

The two women ended up getting in a physical altercation in April 2017, which resulted in Shawna's arrest. While waiting to go to court, Zaayer remained adamant that Shawna needed to go to prison but was also convinced that David — who worked at the nearby jail — was protecting his wife from receiving an adequate punishment, per The Guardian. Shawna was soon released.

On May 26, 2018, Zaayer walked into the Scotts' home and shot Shawna in the face before finding David on the back porch and shooting him in the heart. Shawna was rushed to the hospital where she survived with severe injuries, but David died, according to WTVQ.

The horrific case was covered in the first episode of the Netflix docuseries Worst Neighbor Ever, titled "She Finally Snapped," which hit the streamer on July 1. Shawna and several of her family members participated in the episode and recounted their memories of David and the situation leading up to his murder.

Here's everything to know about where Frances Zaayer is now.

Who is Frances Zaayer?

Frances Zaayer.Credit: Kentucky Department of Corrections

Zaayer grew up in Mount Sterling, Ky., and was a family friend of the Scott family, who all lived in homes adjacent to each other in the rural town.

Shawna explained in Worst Neighbor Ever that Zaayer had a "long history in our family" — including being close friends with her cousin and living with her grandma when she was younger because of "family problems."

"Frances became part of our family when she was 15, 16 years old," Shawna's aunt, Wanda Collinsworth, said in the doc. "Frances didn't really have a good home situation. She told us that her mom wasn't good to her, but I was never sure. She enjoyed being with my family."

Collinsworth added that after a while, they introduced her as their niece. Zaayer later left Mount Sterling and got married. She returned to her hometown when she got divorced and bought a home in the Scotts' neighborhood that needed major construction.

In November 2016, Zaayer asked Shawna if she could live with her and David while she waited for her house to be finished. Shawna said that they initially had "fun" together and enjoyed shopping, going out and watching movies together.

However, they "started having problems" later that year and into the following January when Zaayer got upset with Shawna's young grandchild, was angered by her cleaning routines and even showed them a video of her criticizing Islam.

"I started thinking she may be a little racist," Shawna recalled, while acknowledging that David was Black and their child was mixed race. "This is not gonna work. David did not like her at all. He said she's trouble from the beginning."

By January 2017, Shawna demanded that Zaayer move out.

What happened after Zaayer moved out of Shawna and David's home?

Shawna in Worst Neighbor Ever: Season 1.Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Just two months after Zaayer moved out of Shawna and David's home, she moved into a renovated house across the street.

Although Shawna didn't initially think anything of Zaayer's move, she quickly realized that their former housemate was "causing problems."

Advertisement

In April 2017, the women got into a physical altercation after Zaayer allegedly threatened to lie about Shawna working while on disability on social media.

"It wasn't just pulling hair, slapping," Shawna remembered. "It was a fight. David came and broke it up and drug me off of her."

Zaayer reported the incident to the police, and Shawna was arrested two weeks later. She returned home soon after and awaited a trial, but Zaayer remained upset that she wasn't immediately sent to prison and claimed to police that she was being "unfairly treated."

Over the next several months, Zaayer continued "harassing" Shawna and David. Shawna alleged several incidents in the doc — including banging on David's car windows and swearing at him, following Shawna and her grandchild to the grocery store and blocking them in, yelling a racial slur at their daughter and appearing naked in front of Shawna and her grandchild.

Although Shawna said she and her family were "miserable for a year" over Zaayer's harassment, their neighbor maintained that she was the person being wronged.

"Frances would call me almost daily to complain about Shawna or Shawna's family members or how police conspiring against her," Assistant County Attorney Andrew Reinhardt recalled in the doc. "It was from her perspective she was the only victim doing nothing wrong. She was totally infatuated. This was her entire life."

What did Zaayer do to Shawna and David Scott?

By May 2018, tensions had reached an all-time high when Shawna agreed to a plea deal over the physical altercation and avoided prison time. Zaayer was upset over the agreement and expressed her anger in a phone call with police.

"I can't get this court here to understand how dangerous this idiot is," Zaayer said in a phone call, as played in the doc. "I can't take any more of this. I told Shawna right to her face, 'I am not gonna be f---ed with anymore. I will not tolerate it anymore.' Today is when it stops."

On May 28, Shawna was inside cleaning, while David was outside on the back porch installing cameras to continue monitoring Zaayer's behavior. Zaayer walked through the front door and shot Shawna in the face before walking out back and shooting David in the chest.

Both David and Shawna were rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was 47 years old. Shawna underwent several surgeries and remained in critical condition but survived the attack. She lost sight in her left eye and hearing in her left ear as a result of the shooting.

Where is Frances Zaayer now?

Frances Zaayer.Credit: Kentucky Department of Corrections

Zaayer was immediately cornered by police and was apprehended after a brief standoff. On Jan. 11, 2022, she accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to murder, second-degree assault and wanton endangerment. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

During the sentencing victim impact statement hearing, Shawna's daughter, Haley Boyd, told Zaayer that she deserved "so much more than the sentence you are receiving today."

"I do not forgive you," Boyd told her. "I don't want to forgive you, and I'm never going to forgive you."

Although Zaayer pleaded guilty, she did not give a motive or explanation for her devastating crime.

"Frances never gave an explanation for anything," Duane Kidd, former deputy sheriff of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, recalled in the doc. "She don't believe she did anything wrong ... There's nothing there. She took his life for no reason."

Zaayer is serving her sentence at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Shelby County, Ky., per inmate records. She is eligible for parole on May 4, 2038.

"That's my biggest fear — for Frances to be paroled," Shawna admitted. "I fear for my kids, for my family, honestly I hope she never gets out. I mean it's still a fear that's in the back of my head every day."

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”