A “racially motivated” dispute between two Kentucky neighbors went on for years before culminating in a horrifying tragedy that destroyed both families.
The fatal event saw Frances Zaayer, a resident of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, open fire at her neighbors, David and Shawna Scott, taking the former’s life and leaving the latter severely injured.
Their story was covered in the first installment of Netflix’s four-episode docuseries, Worst Neighbor Ever, directed by Cynthia Childs.
It brought chilling new details to light, including Zaayer’s bizarre behavior leading up to the incident, leaving some viewers wondering if the disaster could have been avoided.
“I wish law enforcement took the issue more seriously, but they never do until it is too late,” one user said.
Disputes between Frances Zaayer and the Scott family reached a boiling point with a 911 call
Image credits: Kentucky State Police
In 2002, David and Shawna Scott moved from Ohio to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, the Netflix documentary revealed. They had Shawna’s daughter, Haley, with them, and the couple later had another child, named Hunter.
They lived there happily for 14 years, enjoying their lives and an occasional cookout with Shawna’s family members, many of whom had lived in Mount Sterling for a long time.
But Frances Zaayer’s arrival changed things.
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Zaayer was an old family friend who had previously lived with Shawna’s grandmother and other relatives since she was a teenager. She fell out of touch for years before coming back to Mount Sterling in 2016 and purchasing a property across the street from the Scotts.
As Zaayer’s house was being reconstructed, Shawna invited her to live with them. Everything was amicable at first, but her personality started becoming “bossy” after a while, Shawna shared on the episode.
Zaayer began demanding that things be done “her way” in the house. At one point, she showed the Scotts a street interview of hers where she made racially charged comments, which concerned Shawna as her husband was African-American.
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Weeks after Zaayer moved out of their house in January 2017, she found Shawna helping out at a friend’s tanning salon and threatened to report her for “working while on disability.” When Shawna went to confront her, the two got into a physical altercation over it in Zaayer’s front yard, and David had to intervene.
Zaayer called 911, accusing David and Shawna of beating her with a stick. While the responding officers did not take anyone in custody because Zaayer had no visible injuries, she formally pressed charges, which led to Shawna’s arrest.
An “odd” Kentucky law allowed Frances Zaayer to expose herself to children
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After Shawna was released on bail, Zaayer made another 911 call to complain that she was being “unfairly treated” and said that she would write a letter to President Donald Trump to send her neighbor to prison for at least 18 months.
She allegedly started to “bait” and “aggravate” the Scott family and continued making dozens of 911 calls to complain about them for months.
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“Frances would lie out in her yard, t*pless,” Shawna said, adding that her nieces and nephews would often be exposed to the situation. “She’d be out there, mowing her yard, n**ed, showing her b**t, mooning them, showing them her b**bs.”
Shawna made a 911 call about it, but found out that Zaayer had not technically broken any law, as indecent exposure statutes are limited to private parts in the state.
“The cops informed us that it’s not against the law, so there’s nothing we could do about it,” Shawna said.
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“In the state of Kentucky, it’s not a crime for a woman to be t*pless,” explained Duane Kidd, a former Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
“But you can’t show your genitalia, and that’s for guys and girls. It’s a crazy law because there are children out and about. But we do have some odd laws here.”
At this point, Kidd had been to the Scott resident multiple times, responding to 911 calls made by Frances Zaayer.
Frances Zaayer walked into the Scott residence with a firearm and ended David Scott’s life
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In May 2018, Shawna Scott was offered a plea deal in the case stemming from their front-yard scuffle and given a year’s probation along with mandatory anger management classes.
Zaayer was “livid” about it, Shawna recalled, and the Scott family installed security cameras near their front door, fearing future incidents. On May 26, 2018, the CCTV caught Zaayer approaching the Scott residence, pulling out a firearm from the back of her pants, and barging into their home.
“I remember this awful bang, and I was down,” Shawna recalled the incident. “I can recall being able to look out the sliding glass door and seeing Dave lying there, and I can remember hollering for somebody to help him.”
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But it was too late for David. He had passed away on the spot. Shawna survived after 16 surgeries but suffered loss of sight in her left eye, loss of hearing in her left ear, and lots of scars on her face.
“The bullet went into the right side,” Shawna said about her injury. “It went through my nose, and it came out of my ear. I’m really lucky to be here today.”
“I would never think it would escalate the way it did, because I responded to her house many a time,” Kidd said, reminiscing about his co-worker, David. “I looked at it as ‘if I could do something else,’ and I still think about it… You just kind of beat yourself up.”
Zaayer was identified as the prime suspect almost immediately and arrested after a standoff with the police. She was charged with homicide, attempted homicide, and burglary, and pleaded guilty to lesser charges in January 2022.
She was sentenced to 35 years in prison and is serving her term at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, according to jail records. She is expected to be behind bars until December 2046, but is eligible for parole in May 2038.
“Police Department FAILED that family.” The internet was shocked to learn about the Frances Zaayer-Scott family tragedy
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