A domestic argument at a Starke home ended with one man dead and his live-in girlfriend behind bars on a second-degree murder charge Monday morning. Stephanie Michelle Johnson, 42, was arrested at 11:44 a.m. and booked into the Bradford County Jail at 12:03 p.m. on a felony homicide charge, held without bond.
According to the Bradford County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to 1100 Meadows Dr. in Starke after receiving a call about a domestic argument involving Johnson and her boyfriend, David James Wroblewski, born April 19, 1985. A caller told dispatchers Johnson had killed Wroblewski, and Johnson herself reportedly said, “Its me, and we have been fighting for the last days,” according to the sheriff's office post. Corporal Wells arrived at the residence at approximately 5:33 a.m. and found Johnson outside, where he conducted a pat-down for weapons before she was detained in a patrol vehicle, per the same account.
Inside the home, patrol deputies located Wroblewski on a bed with what the sheriff's office described as a possible gunshot wound on the right side of his abdomen. Deputies began life-saving measures before Bradford Medical Services took over care, but Wroblewski did not survive. Deputies later moved him off the bed as they worked to save him, and the Medical Examiner is expected to recover his remains, the sheriff's office said.
Arrest Report Details Alleged Dare
The Bradford County Telegraph reported that the arrest report quotes Johnson telling deputies Wroblewski “dared her to shoot; she pulled the trigger.” Johnson also reportedly told investigators she should not have done that and should have talked to her son, according to the sheriff's office account. Jail records confirm she was booked on a felony second-degree homicide charge under Florida Statute § 782.04.1a2o.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is assisting with processing the scene, the sheriff's office said, while the exact charges Johnson ultimately faces will be determined at a later time. Under Florida Statute § 782.04, second-degree murder is defined as an unlawful killing carried out by an act imminently dangerous to another that evinces a depraved mind without premeditated intent, and it carries a penalty of up to life in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Investigators describe the case as ongoing.
A Quiet Corner of Bradford County
The shooting happened in the Meadows Drive neighborhood, which sits off State Road 16 roughly two minutes north of U.S. Route 301, according to News4JAX. Real estate records published on Zillow show the single-family home at the address is a 1,304-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom house built in 1996.
Bradford County had an estimated 28,307 residents in 2025, making it the 51st most populous of Florida's 67 counties, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures compiled by USAFacts. Census data also shows the county's median individual income was $31,777 as of the 2024 American Community Survey, with about 12.1% of local families living below the poverty threshold. Historical Uniform Crime Reporting figures from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show the Bradford County Sheriff's Office recorded 98 domestic violence offenses in 2019 and 102 in 2017, offering some sense of the volume of such calls the agency has handled in past years.
Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith has led the agency since winning election in November 2008, following seven years as chief of police for the City of Starke, according to biographical records from the Florida Sheriffs Association. Separately on the same day of Johnson's arrest, Smith issued an administrative order directing his agency to immediately stop using automated license plate reader technology countywide after state authorities revoked permit approvals on state roads, Action News Jax reported.
Key questions remain unresolved, including the timeline for a formal arraignment and any prosecutorial filing decisions on final charges. Investigators have not released the medical examiner's official findings on Wroblewski's cause of death.
