Florida mother kills 4 children, then herself

[redheadbaker]

usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/15/11716702-florida-mother-kills-4-children-then-herself-deputies-say?lite

Florida mother kills 4 children, then herself, deputies say

Updated at 1:20 p.m. ET

A Florida mother killed her four children and then shot herself Tuesday morning as Brevard County, Fla., deputies closed in on her Port St. John home, authorities said.

Deputies said the mother, identified as Tonya Thomas, 33, sent a warning text message to a friend before the shootings, but the friend didn’t see the text until later.

Three of the children, at least one already wounded, fled to the home of a neighbor who had been awakened by gunfire, but Thomas immediately called the children back and killed them, sheriff’s spokesman Tom Goodyear said.

The neighbor called 911 as they left his home, Goodyear said.

“She was very calm,” Goodyear said of the neighbor’s report. “She called them back and they walked back to the house.”

Arriving deputies found one of the children, Pebbles Johnson, 17, lying in the front yard of the Bright Avenue home and spotted a person at the front door, Goodyear said. The person ducked back inside after seeing deputies, he said. The teen was declared dead when she was transferred to an ambulance.

As a SWAT team arrived, officers heard gunshots inside. SWAT officers entered through a back sliding door just before 7 a.m., and found Thomas and three other children dead. They were identified as Joel Johnson, 12, Jazlin Johnson, 13, and Jaxs Johnson, 15.

Goodyear said the children’s father, who was separated from the family, had been notified of the deaths.

Also, a friend of Thomas told police she texted him during the night that she wanted to be cremated with her four children, Goodyear said. However, the friend did not see the text until after he woke up Tuesday morning and the incident was over. The friend, who was not identified, called police after seeing news of the deaths, he said.

Goodyear said police previously responded to the Florida “Space Coast” home, about 15 miles south of Cape Canaveral, for domestic disturbance calls involving Jaxs Johnson. He said the most recent call was about a month before Tuesday’s shootings.

Goodyear said that of Tuesday afternoon, authorities had no motive for the killings.

[secretlyevil]

why can't these people just kill themselves? Why do they have to take innocents with them?

[UMaineTeach]

Horrible.

and she had power enough over her kids that they tried to escape, but came back when called.

[heyjude]

Pebbles? Jaxs? Jazlin?

(this story is so fucked up, this all I have to contribute)

[Deleted]

May 15, 2012 13:45:26 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

why can't these people just kill themselves? Why do they have to take innocents with them?

This is what I think of every time I see one of these ungodly murder-suicides.

And for whatever reason, we have more than our fair share of them here in Florida.

It's awful.

[wrathofkuus]

May 15, 2012 13:51:08 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

Horrible.

and she had power enough over her kids that they tried to escape, but came back when called.

Uh huh. And they were pretty old for that, too, too old to think that the mother's motive was some sort of post-partum business.

[Deleted]

i know that this man is probably beating himself up like you wouldn't believe, but i'm still ticked at the neighbor for lettign those kids go.

[hellzkitten]

Hurl. People like this should kill themselves. & it makes me especially sad that the kids escaped but came back?! =(

[whitewolf]

that makes me feel queasy. How unbelievably, unspeakably awful.

[iammalcolmx]

Why on earth did she do this?

[charminglife]

OMG, why didn't the neighbor stop them from returning?

[Deleted]

This awful, just awful. I can't believe that neighbor allowed the kids to return after seeing one child was already hurt. WTF? I am so glad I am leaving this crazy state.

[emilyj]

WTF??

What the fuck kind of mess did these kids live in that they went back when she called them? This is horrific.

[GailGoldie]

Oh, Lord. Those kids were teens... likely years of abuse, considering they went back knowing what she was doing -- they must have feared her for their entire lives. So sad.

[AJL]

May 15, 2012 14:44:52 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Why on earth did she do this?

Because she was sick. Very sick. Mentally healthy people just don't commit murder-suicide.