# Shaylyn Moran and Jack Doherty : The Psychotic Pawtucket Couple

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/true-crime-with-bratterstein-7162898/shaylyn-moran-and-jack-doherty-the-psychotic-pawtucket-couple
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/true-crime-with-bratterstein-7162898/shaylyn-moran-and-jack-doherty-the-psychotic-pawtucket-couple.md
Podcast: [TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein](https://stenobird.com/podcast/true-crime-with-bratterstein-7162898)
Published: 2026-06-15T12:25:01+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bratterstein/episodes/Shaylyn-Moran-and-Jack-Doherty--The-Psychotic-Pawtucket-Couple-e3kqabl
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4615429873.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/true-crime-with-bratterstein-7162898/episodes/shaylyn-moran-and-jack-doherty-the-psychotic-pawtucket-couple
Duration seconds: 2590

## Resource

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Cheryl Smith with me today. On New Year’s Day 2020 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 18‑year‑old Shaylyn Moran and her new fiancé, 23‑year‑old Jack Doherty, turned a petty grudge into a murder plot when they targeted the mother of Moran’s ex‑boyfriend. Prosecutors said the couple got engaged on New Year’s Eve, then spent the night in a hotel planning revenge, deciding that Doherty would go to the Baxter Street home where Moran’s ex lived and shoot whoever answered the door with a handgun police believe was at least partly 3D‑printed. Around 8 p.m. on January 1, 54‑year‑old Cheryl Smith opened her front door and was shot multiple times in the chest; she later died at the hospital, while a man in dark clothing was seen running from the scene. Detectives quickly traced the plot back to Moran and Doherty, who were found hours later at a nearby Hampton Inn with the gun and arrested on murder and conspiracy charges. Moran ultimately pleaded guilty in 2021 to first‑degree murder, conspiracy, and firearms charges and was sentenced to life in prison plus additional years, while Doherty took his case to trial, claiming mental illness. A jury rejected his insanity defense in 2022 and found him guilty of murder, conspiracy, using a firearm in a violent crime, and carrying a pistol without a permit; in 2023 he was given two consecutive life sentences, ensuring that both he and Moran will likely die in prison for the New Year’s Day execution of Cheryl Smith.

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