Does Sally McNeil have children? Who are Shantina and John, are they featured in Netflix’s Killer Sally series

On Valentine’s Day 1995 a California couple’s relationship reached a bloody climax when professional bodybuilder Sally McNeil killed her husband, Ray, shooting him twice with a shotgun whilst her two young children were in the house.

McNeil, nicknamed Killer Sally by the tabloid press, phoned the police after the shooting and admitted to killing her husband but claimed that Ray was abusive and she had acted in self defence.

Despite pleading self-defence, McNeil was convicted of murder and sentenced to 19 years to life to be served at a women’s correctional facility in California - she was released in 2020, after serving 25 years.

Her story is the focus of Netflix series Killer Sally, which also features her son, John, and daughter, Shantina, both from a previous marriage. This is what happened to Sally’s children after she killed their step-father and was sent to prison.

Who are Sally McNeil’s children?

Sally has two children - John who was nine and Shantina who was 11 at the time of Ray’s death. The children grew up in Oceanside, California, and the family often struggled to make ends meet.

When Sally’s bodybuilding career took off, they had more money, but the pair argued more and their home life was volatile. Both children took part in the documentary and corroborated their mother’s claims that Ray was violent. They said that Ray had broken Sally’s nose on one occasion, and John claimed that he beat him a lot and sometimes turned his anger on Shantina.

What happened to John and Shantina McNeil?

After Sally was sent to prison the two children were briefly taken into care before being raised by their maternal grandmother, who lived 3,000 miles away from where their mother was incarcerated.

This meant that the children only saw their mother about once a year whilst she was imprisoned. Both children joined the military in later life and had a strained relationship with their mother, which they are now rebuilding.

John served five combat tours in Afghanistan and later dealt with PTSD and drug addiction, for which he has received treatment. During the time that she was in prison, John stopped speaking to his mother but now speaks to her regularly. He also has a strong relationship with his sister and her son. John has  been married previously and now lives in Texas.

Shantina gained a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, and joined the US Army where she worked for 16 years and completed two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. Shantina also suffered PTSD, which she said was a result of her combat tours and being involved in an abusive relationship.

After leaving the army she worked for an aerospace and defence technology company and now works as an IT network administrator for Defense Logistics Agency. She lives in Grovetown Georgia, and has a son.

Is Sally McNeil in touch with her children?

Since leaving prison, McNeil now reportedly lives in  Hephzibah, Georgia, and has remarried. She met her third husband Norfleet Stewart at a support group - both of Sally’s children reportedly attended the wedding. Both children live much closer to their mother than they did when she was in prison and are believed to now have a strong relationship with her.