Netflix’s Worst Neighbor Ever revisits the disturbing case of Frances Zaayer, including the legal reason police said they could not arrest her simply for being topless before she later killed David Scott and severely injured his wife, Shawna.
Arguments between neighbors are common enough, and most are eventually resolved. In this Kentucky community, though, tensions escalated into a deadly and life-altering confrontation.
Zaayer had been a longtime family friend and, after returning to Mount Sterling following the breakdown of her marriage, stayed with David and Shawna Scott while her nearby home was being renovated.
That arrangement soon fell apart, and according to Shawna, the relationship deteriorated into constant conflict that made daily life unbearable.
The case is featured in Netflix’s true-crime series Worst Neighbor Ever, which premiered on July 1, 2026, and examines the events leading up to May 26, 2018, when Zaayer shot David Scott and killed him.
She later pleaded guilty to murder, second-degree assault, and first-degree wanton endangerment and was sentenced in February 2022 to 35 years in prison.
Shawna, whose face was shattered by another bullet during the shooting, speaks publicly in the series about the trauma she endured and the behavior she says came before the violence.
She described a pattern of conduct that repeatedly upset the household and fueled the hostilities between them.
“Frances would lay out in her yard topless, she’d be out there mowing her yard naked, showing her butt and her boobs,” Shawna recalled in the documentary.
Shawna said her grandchildren were often outside, but despite complaints to police about Zaayer’s conduct, officers were limited in what action they could take because Kentucky law did not make female toplessness, by itself, a crime.
“In Kentucky, it’s not a crime for a woman to be topless,” Duane Kidd, former deputy sheriff, explained.
He added: “We do have some odd laws.”
Looking back on the day of the shooting, Shawna shared her memory of the moment the attack began.
“I remember this awful bang, and I was down.
“I can recall being able to look out of the sliding glass door, and saw David laying there, and I can remember shouting for someone to help him.”
She also described the serious injuries she was left with and the long recovery that followed, including 16 surgeries.
“I suffered the loss of my sight in my left eye, the loss of the hearing in my left ear, scars on my face, just a lot of surgeries and a lot of healing.”