Nearly 19 years after Doris Worrell was found shot to death at the amusement park owned by her husband in Douglas, Georgia, investigators have arrested and charged Jon Worrell in connection with her killing. Doris, a 39-year-old mother of three, was working at Jon’s Sports Park on the morning of September 20, 2006, when she was fatally shot in what investigators initially believed could have been a robbery. The case remained unresolved for years as authorities pursued multiple leads, but a renewed investigation eventually brought attention back to Doris’ husband and his relationship with a young woman who had lived with the family.

Doris had been well known in the Douglas community for her involvement in her church and her willingness to help others. In 2003, she learned that 15-year-old Paola Yarberry, who had immigrated from Venezuela and was living alone in the area, needed a place to stay. Doris invited the teenager into her home, where Yarberry eventually became the family’s live-in nanny and helped care for Doris and Jon’s three children. She also worked at Jon’s Sports Park, the amusement center and go-kart facility that he owned and operated.

On the morning Doris was killed, she and Yarberry were reportedly cleaning the amusement park. Jon had left the property to run an errand and returned later that morning. Investigators say he found his wife dead from a gunshot wound to the head and contacted authorities. Photographs taken at the scene showed Jon visibly distraught beside his wife’s body, while the community mourned the death of a woman many residents remembered for her kindness and involvement in local church life.

The initial investigation focused on the possibility that Doris had been killed during a robbery or by people connected to the amusement park. In 2008, authorities arrested two men, Glidden Rodriguez and Brandon Cage, and accused them of conspiracy to commit murder. However, prosecutors eventually dropped the charges after investigators determined there was not enough evidence to proceed. With no successful prosecution, the investigation continued for years as authorities worked to establish who was responsible for Doris’ death.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, investigators later uncovered information about problems within Doris and Jon’s marriage and learned that Jon had been involved in a relationship with Yarberry. Authorities allege that Jon wanted to end his marriage but was concerned about losing custody of his children. Investigators eventually developed the theory that he arranged for someone else to kill Doris rather than carrying out the shooting himself. The GBI has not alleged that Yarberry participated in Doris’ killing, and authorities have said she is not considered a suspect in the homicide.

After Doris’ death, Jon left the United States with his children and eventually established a new life in Costa Rica. Investigators say Yarberry later joined him there after being deported from the United States. Jon reportedly started an ice delivery business in Costa Rica while raising his children. The family’s move abroad became another significant part of the investigation as authorities attempted to understand the events surrounding Doris’ death and Jon’s life after the killing.

The case eventually gained new momentum nearly two decades later when investigators learned that Jon and Yarberry had separated and began pursuing new information from the former nanny. In 2025, a Georgia investigator traveled to Costa Rica and interviewed Yarberry. According to the GBI, information obtained during that investigation, together with evidence collected throughout the nearly two-decade investigation, helped authorities build a case against Jon.

Jon was arrested in Maryville, Missouri, on May 20, 2025. He was subsequently returned to Georgia to face charges connected to Doris’ death. The GBI initially announced charges including malice murder, felony murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and a Coffee County grand jury later indicted him on murder and conspiracy charges. Jon has pleaded not guilty and remains legally presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The arrest brought a major development to a case that had remained unresolved since Doris’ death in 2006, but it also reopened painful memories for her family. Doris’ sister, LeAnn Tuggle, has spoken publicly about the effect of the killing on Doris’ three children, who were still young when their mother died. Following Jon’s arrest, Tuggle told them that they still had a family and a home with her, emphasizing that they had not been abandoned despite the loss they experienced.

For Doris’ relatives, the arrest represents a significant step after years of uncertainty, but the criminal case will now have to be resolved through the court system. Prosecutors will be required to prove their allegations against Jon beyond a reasonable doubt, while his defense will have the opportunity to challenge the evidence and the prosecution’s account of what happened nearly two decades ago. The case remains an example of how advances in investigations, new witnesses and information uncovered years after a killing can bring renewed attention to a long-unsolved homicide.

sources: Georgia Bureau of Investigation — Jon Worrell case