A Lee County woman has been arrested after her husband died in the front yard of their home from a shotgun blast.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the 500 block of Lee Road. Deputies arrived to find Brandyn Lloyd Paonessa, 26, in the yard suffered from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, said sheriff’s Capt. Van Jackson.

First responders tried to save Brandyn Paonessa but to no avail. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Investigators, Jackson said, found evidence that led to his wife – 27-year-old Brittnay Ryals Paonessa – as the prime suspect. She was taken into custody and charged with murder. A shotgun was recovered from the scene.

Court records show a history of marital discord between the couple, who married in 2013 and have three young children together. Brittnay Paonessa also has another child from a previous relationship.

Brandyn Paonessa was arrested last year on a third-degree domestic violence charge involving his wife after he was accused of punching her in the stomach because she looked through his cell phone. That charge was dismissed at the wife’s request.

Brandyn Paoenssa earlier this week sought a Protection from Abuse order against his wife and requested immediate temporary custody of their children. In his request, the husband said his wife had threatened his job by lying to his bosses, had driven a truck into the house and harassed all of their friends. He described her as “very unstable.”

Brittnay Paonessa is being held in the Lee County Detention Facility on $150,000 bond. Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to call the Lee County Sherriff’s Office at 334-749-5651 or the Lee County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-522-7847.