ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A grand jury indicted a man for murder after St. Petersburg police say he shot and killed his estranged girlfriend last month outside her apartment.
Jerome Isom, 36, faces the first-degree murder charge for the death of 25-year-old Yvonne Abernethy.
According to police, just before 6 a.m. on June 18, Abernethy was outside her apartment at the Reserve at Lake Pointe on Lynn Lake Drive South when Isom shot and killed her. The couple reportedly had a history of domestic violence throughout their relationship.
Isom is currently in jail in South Florida for unrelated charges from the Florida Highway Patrol and Miami Beach Police Department. Police said Isom will eventually be extradited to Pinellas County to face the charge.
10 Tampa Bay's Anjelicia Bruton spoke last month with Abernethy's family and loved ones, who expressed their heartbreak over the 25-year-old's death. Rev. Kenny Irby said he was shocked because Abernethy had her whole life ahead of her.
“Devastated — there's no other description,” Irby said at the time.
Irby said his congregation is close-knit and Abernethy was a dedicated member.
“Everybody in the church and people in the community knew her as ‘Von,’" Irby said.
He said she often expressed her faith through song and dance. He called her a rising leader in her community taken too soon.
“She was a wonderfully humble young lady who was eager to learn and always willing to serve,” Irby said.