LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. – A 5-year-old little girl in Land O’ Lakes has lost both of her parents in a murder-suicide that happened around 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday in the Marchmont Blvd. area of Land O’ Lakes.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said while the situation unfolded Tuesday, it all started in August when the father was arrested for domestic battery.
The wife did the right thing, Nocco said.
“She got a domestic violence injunction. She wanted to do everything she could to make sure she kept this husband away from her and to keep this man away from her daughter,” said Nocco.
According to Nocco, the daughter was with an adult babysitter at the house, taking care of the child.
When the mother gets home Tuesday evening, she pays the babysitter, and then the two walk the babysitter outside.
Nocco said as they were walking the babysitter out, the woman got in her vehicle to leave the residence.
As the babysitter starts backing out of the driveway, she sees an adult start running towards the mother and daughter and starts firing rounds.
“The babysitter then calls 911 immediately to notify us the mother had been shot,” said Nocco. “The mother dies right there.”
Nocco said the child then entered the home, and when deputies arrived, she told them, “my daddy’s upstairs, he’s inside the master bathroom, and I heard a big bang.”
Deputies saw that the 5-year-old child was also shot through the arm.
“We recognized that she had a bullet wound that went through and through,” said Nocco. “They got her immediately to fire rescue. She’s at the hospital right now with our victim advocate.”
The child will make a full recovery, according to the Sheriff.
The girl’s father was found in the bathroom, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“So, that little five-year-old, I can’t imagine,” said an emotional Nocco. “You know, there’s a lot of little kids right now that are waking up; they’re still putting their Christmas list together, waiting for Santa Claus to come, saying, this is what I want for Christmas. We’re gonna have a five-year-old who’s gonna be waking up in a world now wondering, I don’t have a mother. I don’t have a father. I don’t know what’s going on in my life.”
“This man, he killed his wife. He shot his daughter. He left his daughter in a world without any parents. This is the horrible thing we have to live with,” said Nocco. “For everybody in our community, I ask you this, if you’re wondering what to buy people for the holiday season, give money to Sunrise Domestic Violence Shelter.”
“Give money to a mental health group that can help people out. Because these are the tragedies that affect people. And you know, people think in life that they’re dealing with tragedy because they’re waiting in a long line to buy something or traffic is busy. Say a little prayer for this girl,” said Nocco.
This is an ongoing investigation, and additional details are not available. As the relationship of the involved parties is identified, victim names are not public record under Marsy’s Law.
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