Scott County fire chief charged with murder in wife’s death

FOX23 Sales Team

SCOTT COUNTY, Mo., (KBSI) – A Scott County fire chief has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and several other felonies following a more than yearlong investigation into the death of his wife.

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrested 45-year-old Jeremy R. Perrien shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, according to Scott County Sheriff Derick Wheetley.

Perrien is charged in Scott County with second-degree murder, felony harassment, second-degree domestic assault and two counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. He is being held in the Stoddard County Jail without bond.

The charges stem from the June 29, 2025, death of Shelby Perrien, which was initially reported as a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to a probable cause statement filed in Scott County Circuit Court, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department requested assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control shortly after the shooting. Investigators said Shelby Perrien had been riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven southbound on Interstate 55 when she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at 3:43 a.m. at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau and was later transported to Farmington for an autopsy.

Jeremy Perrien was voluntarily taken to the Scott County Sheriff’s Office for an interview with Highway Patrol investigators, according to the statement. He told investigators his wife pulled a .380-caliber handgun from the center console and shot herself while they were traveling on Interstate 55.

Investigators said Perrien initially described the couple’s interaction before the shooting as nonargumentative but later acknowledged there had been more of an argument than he first disclosed.

The probable cause statement details evidence investigators said they recovered from the couple’s cellphones, including a video dated May 19, 2025, that was found in a hidden folder on Shelby Perrien’s phone. According to the affidavit, the approximately 90-second video showed Jeremy Perrien striking his wife, grabbing her by the throat, choking her and repeatedly punching her. Investigators said Perrien threatened to kill her multiple times during the recording.

Investigators also said they were initially unable to locate text messages between the couple on their phones. According to the statement, Perrien admitted deleting the messages from both devices after the shooting. He told investigators he deleted them because the couple had been arguing and he felt the death was his fault because of the argument.
Investigators later recovered an iMessage exchange from about an hour before the shooting. According to the probable cause statement, the messages included multiple hostile messages Perrien allegedly sent to his wife. In one, investigators said Perrien wrote, “sober or drunk, I’m not the … one to … around with.” Other messages contained sexually violent language directed toward Shelby Perrien.

The affidavit also describes what investigators observed in body camera footage after deputies arrived. Investigators said Perrien was holding his wife’s head with one hand while two fingers were inside her mouth and pushed down her throat. The statement notes Perrien was a law enforcement officer and assistant fire chief who had received training in lifesaving measures.

Investigators also processed the 2025 Honda Pilot in which the shooting occurred. According to the affidavit, they found little or no visible blood on the driver’s seat or driver’s-side door. Investigators reported substantially more blood on the right side of the front passenger seat, nearest the passenger door, as well as blood with flow characteristics on the seat.

The probable cause statement says investigators found a significant amount of blood between the passenger seat and door and on portions of the passenger door. A spent .380-caliber shell casing was found near the front windshield inside a vent indentation, according to the affidavit.

Investigators also recovered older messages from Shelby Perrien’s phone that they allege showed previous threats. According to the statement, one April 20 message from Jeremy Perrien stated, “You 100% will need a body bag if I stay with you. Each time my rage is worse.” Investigators said other recovered messages referenced suicide and Perrien being both “homicidal and suicidal.”

At the time of Shelby Perrien’s death, Jeremy Perrien was a reserve deputy, assistant coroner and fire chief in Scott County, according to Wheetley.

Because of Perrien’s connections to local law enforcement and emergency services, Wheetley said the sheriff’s office immediately turned the investigation over to the Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.

“We did that for one reason: to ensure this investigation was independent, transparent, and free from any actual or perceived conflict of interest,” Wheetley said.

The sheriff also addressed accusations that his office had protected Perrien because of his association with law enforcement.

Wheetley said the sheriff’s office stayed out of the investigation after turning it over to the Highway Patrol and did not control where the evidence led, what conclusions investigators reached or what charging decisions were made.

“There is an important difference between covering something up and allowing independent investigators to do their jobs without compromising an active investigation,” Wheetley said.

Following the Highway Patrol’s investigation, the case was submitted to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which reviewed the case and filed the charges.

Wheetley said he personally knew both Jeremy and Shelby Perrien and had worked alongside Jeremy Perrien at numerous fire scenes and calls for service.

“Today’s charges demonstrate exactly why we turned this investigation over from the beginning and why we remained patient and allowed independent agencies to follow the evidence wherever it led,” Wheetley said.

The sheriff asked the public to respect Shelby Perrien’s family and allow the criminal justice process to move forward.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office said it had no further involvement in the investigation and directed additional questions to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

The allegations contained in the probable cause statement have not been proven in court. Perrien is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.