Jema Donahue fatally shot Javon Donahue and had his body buried

On April 21, 2017, sheriffs in Warrensburg, Missouri received a disturbing telephone tip. They were told that Javon Donahue’s body would be found buried on a local farm.

“The court issued the search warrant to search the farm,” Johnson County District Attorney Bob Russell said Kill or be killedBroadcast on Saturdays at 9/8 p.m Oxygen.

Sheriffs used backhoes and cadaver dogs and recovered a body the same day the lead came in. It was determined to be 31-year-old Javon and the body was sent to the coroner for an autopsy.

“It’s clear we were dealing with a murder,” said Michael Coleman, detective sergeant with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

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Investigators determined through court records that Jema had reported incidents of domestic violence involving her husband. “A little over a week before his death, Jema had an order of protection in place,” Russell said.

Jema Donahue, Peggy Heffernan questioned by the police

Jema and her mother were interviewed separately by police. In a recorded interview, Jema claimed to have no idea where Javon was.

Jema eventually burst into tears, investigators said. She said she was home alone when Javon entered her house through a window.

Jema claimed Javon was “behaving erratically” and “lashed out at her,” Coleman said. Javon opened a dresser drawer that had a gun in it, his wife told police, and they fought over the gun.

She said he took the gun, pointed it at her and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked four times. Javon dropped the gun and Jema picked it up and cocked the safety, she said. She realized that was why the gun just clicked.

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Jema Donahue admits fatally shooting her husband Javon Donahue

“She says Javon is coming at her and she’s shooting him,” Russell said.

“I fired two shots,” Jema told police in the recorded interview. “I shot him in the shoulder. The second shot I don’t know if it hit him.”

The fight continued, she said in the interview. She told police that Javon said, “Well, bitch, we’re both going to die together.” Until death do us part.”

Jema said she pointed the gun at “both of our heads and pulled the trigger.” According to Russell, “Jema said she thought they would both die together and that the bullet would go through his head and into hers.”

“Jema makes her first statement that it was self-defense,” Russell said. “But I had my doubts. People who believe they acted in self-defense are not afraid to hide a body.”

Jema Donahue’s mother gives her report

Heffernan told sheriffs that Jema called her at work on April 14. She rushed home and learned that Javon was dead.

“Jema told me she called 911. But then she hung up,” Heffernan said. According to her mother, Jema said not to call the police.

Jema claimed that “Javon had some family members who may have been gang-affiliated,” Russell said. “Jema thought that if they found out she had shot Javon, they would kill her too.”

When Johnson County 911 called Jema’s number after hanging up, Heffernan had picked up the phone. She told the dispatcher that the call was made in error.

Jema was charged with second-degree murder. Heffernan had no criminal record and was allowed to leave at that time.

According to the information, the police took Jema and Javon’s children to Jema’s sister’s house a few towns away Kill or be killed.

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Javon Donahue’s turbulent history

According to investigators, Javon struggled with “personal demons.” “Javon was involved in drugs, but his family said he was just a really good person,” Coleman said.

Warrensburg police obtained a search warrant to determine whether the crime scene matched Jema and Heffernan’s story. They recovered an empty box of 22 caliber ammunition.

Luminol, a substance that glows in the presence of blood, was used at the crime scene. It turned out that “there was a lot of blood everywhere,” Coleman said.

After the crime scene was processed, Armstrong and Heffernan were charged with tampering with physical evidence. Heffernan was also charged with abandonment of a corpse.

Heffernan and Armstrong accepted plea deals and received five years probation for tampering with evidence. Heffernan received an additional 30 days in jail for leaving a body behind.

Jema Donahue is “the most abused person,” says her lawyer

While Jema was out on bail, she, her lawyer and mental health experts worked to put together her self-defense case.

“After I first met Jema, I realized that she was the most abused person I have ever represented,” said her defense attorney, John Picerno Kill or be killed.

“In order to convince the jury that this was self-defense, we must prove that Jema was, in fact, a genuine victim of abuse,” Picerno added. “We need to convince the jury that their actions were reasonable under the circumstances.”

Dr. Lisa Witcher, a forensic examiner, was assigned to evaluate Jema. “Jema exhibited significant symptoms of trauma,” she said. “We were able to conclude that she was suffering from abuse syndrome.”

Jema described being choked, beaten, analized and locked in a closet during her marriage to Javon. Jema said she “held on to the hope” of being a family, but the abuse continued.

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The dramatic trial of Jema Donahue

More than a year after her arrest, Jema’s trial began on November 13, 2018. “We always knew that the big hurdle for the state was overcoming all the things that Javon had done to Jema,” Russell said.

The question, in this unique moment, was whether she was in a kill or be killed situation. There was no evidence of forced entry. There were no signs that Jema was involved in a fight.

Additionally, Jema released the safety on the gun and “finally decided to pull the trigger,” Russell said. Then she hid the body.

The prosecution called a forensic expert who testified that Jema’s self-defense story did not match Javon’s wounds.

Defense witnesses focused on the violence and abuse Jema suffered. However, “the fact that Jema tried to cover up this crime plays no role in justifying the defense of a battered woman, according to prosecutors,” said crime podcaster Brian J. Corey.

When Jema took the stand, the case took a dramatic turn. Jema was uncooperative with her own lawyers. “She was very unstable,” Picerno said.

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Her behavior toward prosecutors was angry and defensive. Russell asked Jema if she shot Javon in the back of his shoulder, the back of his head, in the jaw and under his chin.

“You call that self-defense?” Russell remembers asking. “She said, ‘I never said this was self-defense.’ These are your words.’”

Russell said, “If it’s not self-defense, what is it?” he recalled. “She said, ‘This is a tragedy.'”

On November 16, 2018, Jema was acquitted of second-degree murder charges and found guilty of, among other things, voluntary manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon. According to Missouri Department of Corrections records, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Learn more about the case and Jema’s thoughts on the crime in the episode “Taking It to the Grave” by Kill or be killed, Broadcast on Saturdays at 9/8 p.m oxygen.