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Judy Herbert was a 58-year-old woman who was found dead at her residence in Salmon Drive, West Pasco, on March 3, 2011. The neighbors heard a loud gunshot, with the smoke detectors ringing, and called the 911 emergency.
When the authorities arrived, they found Judy dead on the floor, with a machete wound behind her head and a gunshot in her chest. As per Oxygen, Judy Herbert lived at the house with her daughter, Tashia Stuart, and a seven-year-old granddaughter. The sudden murder of an elderly lady terrified the community of West Pasco.
Investigators soon realized that Judy had been killed with an entirely premeditated plan. The entire investigation behind Judy Herbert's murder is documented in Season 35, episode 6 of Snapped: Women Who Kill. The episode was released on February 16, 2025. It is available for streaming on Peacock.
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5 key details about the murder of Judy Herbert
1) Judy Herbert was shot by her adopted daughter
As per an Oxygen article published on February 16, 2025, Tashia Stuart was adopted by Judy when she was five years old. Judy started raising Tashia after her twin sister's pregnancy.
As per a Murderpedia article, Tashia was a difficult child to raise. She would often run away from home with her boyfriend and had to be taken back. As per Oxygen, Tashia Stuart was questioned by the investigators, and she accepted shooting her mother.
However, she came up with a story that it was done as an act of self-defense. As per Murderpedia, she blamed her mother for being an alcoholic who was surviving deteriorating mental health. Tashia claimed that her mother attacked her with a machete, and she shot her to save herself.
2) Tashia had attempted to kill Judy Herbert before her mother
As per the Murderpedia article, Tashia had attempted to kill her mother before. On February 20, 2011, Tashia dropped a heavy bin of books from the garage rafters to Judy Hebert's head.
Additionally, it was revealed that Tashia was struggling financially and was surviving on her mother's money. She would often take Judy's credit cards and use them without her knowing.
The police discovered that Judy Herbert was so afraid of her daughter and son-in-law that she created a code word to signal if she was in danger. Pasco Police Detective Sergeant, Brad Gregory said,
“I believe that Judy investigated her own crime,” he added, “Judy was talking to us from the grave that this is what happened to her. And she wanted to make sure we knew it.”
3) Judy Herbert was killed around her seven-year-old granddaughter
As per Oxygen, it was back in 2004 when Tashia delivered her child and married Todd Stuart. After Judy and her husband Rolphe's divorce, Tashia moved with her family to Judy's house.
The couple had no jobs and often survived borrowing money from people. They even steal her credit card money for their numerous transactions.
Tashia's daughter revealed to the investigators that Judy and Tashia were fighting constantly the day Judy was killed. As per the child, Tashia took her to the bedroom and turned the TV on full volume. Tashia instructed her to stay in the bedroom, and then she heard the gunshot.
4) Tashia Stuart killed her mother for money
As per Oxygen, Tashia tried to paint a picture before the investigators where Judy attacked her with a machete. However, the authenticity of her story was soon found to be false upon searching the crime scene.
When Judy's body was found, there was a file folder and a cordless phone on both of her hands. In this situation, she couldn't attack with a machete. Additionally, the documents in the file folder had proof of Tashia stealing from her.
Investigators figured out the story that Judy could make a 911 emergency call, and she was put down with the machete by Tashia. The prime motive behind the murder was found when investigators retrieved Judy Hebert's will.
As per Oxygen, Brad Gregory, Pasco Police Detective Sergeant said,
“I think Tashia snapped because she realized she was cut out of the will. And that she got caught stealing. And Judy called the police.”
Before her death, Judy had changed her will from Tashia to the name of her granddaughter. Rolfe Hebert revealed to the investigators that Tashia had tried to break into Judy's safe to change the will. However, she was unable to make it due to the safe code.
5) Tashia Stuart was found guilty of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree murder
After Tashia Stuart's arrest, her case was presented before the jury of Franklin County Superior Court. As per the City Herald, Tashia's trial began on May 23, 2013. She was charged with the murder of Judy Hebert, which she committed on March 3, 2011.
As per Oxygen, Tashia tried to find the safe code in Judy's locker, by keeping a phone hidden in the closet.
“There was a video we found on Tashia’s phone where she planted this phone, hid it in the closet, to capture the combination being entered on this key coded safe,” Prosecutor Shawn Sant
She was additionally charged with the attempted murder, which she tried in the garage on February 20, 2011. Prosecutors from the Franklin County Superior Court found her guilty of both of the charges and sentenced her to spend 45 years behind bars.
Check our other articles to learn more details about other cases of Snapped on Oxygen.
