The wife of a Florida fire department lieutenant shared a sinister post on Facebook just days before her husband killed them both in a shocking murder-suicide, leaving their four young children orphaned.
Andrea Nicole Yarbrough, 34, shared a statistics table detailing the number of emergency calls during the month of April for St. Johns County Fire Rescue, which totaled more than 3,200.
She added a caption that possibly indicated that all was not well at home with her husband and hinted that she was under a lot of stress.
“This is why all of our couples are exhausted and never function 100% at home,” Andrea wrote.
Shawn Yarbrough, 46, was a prominent lieutenant in the fire department, where he was hired twenty years ago in March 2004. Before being promoted to lieutenant, Shawn worked as an engineer in the service.
Shawn Yarbrough, 46, and his wife, Andrea Nicole Yarbrough, 34, were discovered dead June 13 in their Florida home in a murder-suicide. They appear together earlier this month.
Andrea shared a statistics table detailing the number of emergency calls during the month of April for St. Johns County Fire Rescue, which totaled over 3,200.
The couple was found dead June 13 in their home in the Entrada subdivision off County Road 207.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office determined that while Shawn’s manner of death indicated suicide, Andrea’s death appeared to be the result of a homicide.
It is believed that the couple’s children were not home at the time of the shooting.
The couple’s Facebook pages provide little lie to the problems the couple may have been experiencing at home.
Social media shows a life well lived with the couple and their four young children enjoying their days off and participating in ordinary everyday life.
Both Shawn and Andrea, who worked as a financial manager, took their children to baseball games.
In recent months, the children also went on family vacations, including a trip to Texas in early June and a ski trip to North Carolina in March.
Social media posts appeared to show the couple was happily married with four children.
Shawn was a lieutenant stationed with the St Johns County Fire Department, where he was hired in March 2004.
The children recently celebrated one of their brothers’ 14th birthday with a paintball party.
The parents seemed to be actively involved in their children’s lives, enjoying their days together, with family photos showing happy faces everywhere.
Suffice to say, neighbors were shocked to receive news of the couple’s death, with one resident explaining that they were a “typical nice family.”
“They are very nice people and very calm. Just genuine people,” the neighbor said in disbelief to News4Jax.
He added that he never heard any arguments or saw evidence of internal problems.
‘I didn’t even know they had a problem. As (other) neighbors said, “they are like a normal family.”
Before his promotion to lieutenant, the far-right Yarbrough was an engineer in the department.
Both Shawn and Andrea, who worked as a financial manager, took their children to baseball games.
Shawn, far right, is seen having dinner at the firehouse with fellow firefighters Jed Cash, left, and Jason Morrison, center.
At a press conference that same week, the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it was a murder-suicide and called the horrific scene a “tragic isolated incident.”
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed said Historic City News that Andrea Yarbrough’s cause of death was a gunshot wound and that her manner of death was identified as a homicide.
Shawn and Andrea Yarbrough married in December 2022 and bought the house where their bodies would be found in August of that same year.
Andrea had worked for Graybar in Jacksonville as a financial planner and began her career there in 2019.
Olivia Marvin, Andrea’s younger sister, said her four children were the light of her life.
‘Andrea meant a lot to everyone in our family and everyone she encountered. Anyone who knew her knew that she would never give up no matter how difficult things got,” Marvin told ActionNewsJax.
The couple had recently married after several years of dating.
There was little online to suggest things were not good between the couple.
The couple’s Facebook shows many family vacations, days off, and fun activities with their four children.
The head of the fire department, Chief Sean McGee, released a statement referencing the couple’s deaths.
‘The recently reported events were unexpected, shocking and tragic for all those affected.
“As a department, we are deeply saddened by the loss of life, and we recognize its lasting impact on the families and children of those affected,” said Chief McGee.
The fire chief concluded: “My deepest prayers and deepest condolences go out to the victims, their families and friends who were left grieving as a result of these events.”
The chief of the fire department where Shawn worked has since broken his silence about the horrific event and posted a statement on X.com.
On Facebook, Shawn Yarbrough appeared as a true family man and many of his posts feature photos of him along with his wife and children.
Less than two weeks before the murder-suicide, he uploaded a photo of himself smiling alongside his wife with the caption: “Sometimes we dress up.”
In a post earlier this year, Shawn boasted about his children’s academic success, which he attributed to his wife’s efforts.
“The reports just came out a few days ago,” he wrote. ‘The kids still do very well even in the advanced/honors classes. Thank you Andrea for all the effort and dedication for the children’s success.’
The relatives have opened a GoFundMe for Lily, Andrea’s 11-year-old daughter.