news-record.com

A Harnett Central High School graduate and a former 82nd Airborne soldier were killed Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla., in what police there called a murder-suicide.

Police found Jason Pemberton, 28, and his 25-year-old wife, Tiffany Selvia Pemberton, dead in their apartment Sunday, according to a news release. A preliminary investigation indicated Pemberton shot his wife and then himself with a rifle, the release stated.

The couple had lived in Daytona Beach for about a year.

Jason Pemberton, a native of Alabama, was a former staff sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed to Iraq with the 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team in 2007, according to an Army news story from that year.

Jason Pemberton served three tours in Iraq, his uncle, Darrel Pemberton, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Jason Pemberton was a sniper whose honors included three Purple Hearts, the uncle said, and received a medical discharge in 2009. He was shot in Iraq and suffered a back injury when a parachute opened late, the uncle said.

Jason Pemberton was in Daytona Beach studying to be a motorcycle mechanic. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, according to the Florida paper, which also reported that neighbors said they could often hear arguing in the couple's apartment. Jason Pemberton called police in July to report his wife was causing a disturbance, but no charges were filed, police told the News-Journal.

Tiffany Selvia Pemberton graduated from Harnett Central High School in Angier in 2004, a classmate said. Her parents still live in Lillington.

The couple was found after a neighbor spotted their dog on the balcony Sunday and called police. The neighbor said he had heard gunshots the night before but had not reported them.