Tag Archives: heartbreaking

This one had us in tears. Three of the kids escaped to a neighbor’s house only to be called back by their mom . A mother of four shot and killed her children — three of whom returned home after fleeing — before killing herself Tuesday morning at a Port St. John home, according to investigators. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said Tonya Thomas, 33, shot and killed her two daughters, 17-year-old Pebbles Johnson and 13-year-old Jazlin Johnson, and her two sons, 15-year-old Jaxs Johnson and 12-year-old Joel Johnson. Brevard County sheriff’s Lt. Tod Goodyear said three of the children went to a neighbor’s house to say their mother had shot them. The mother then called the children back to the house and shot them again, killing them, investigators said. “I’m a father and I’ve got kids. I cannot comprehend a person doing that to their child — calling them back to the slaughter,” Goodyear said. The neighbors called 911 just before 5 a.m. and deputies found Pebbles Johnson dead in the front yard of the home at 7245 Bright Avenue. Deputies then spotted someone at the door and called the SWAT team, who later entered the home and found four people dead. “We have no idea on motive right now,” said Goodyear, who added that no note or letter has been discovered. The father of the children lives elsewhere in Brevard County and was very distraught upon hearing the news, Goodyear said. A friend of Thomas told authorities that Thomas sent a text message around 3 a.m., saying she wanted to be cremated with her children. The message wasn’t received, however, until after the friend woke up, which was after the family was found dead. More than a dozen deputies and SWAT team members had converged on the home and the neighborhood was cordoned off during the investigation. Goodyear said deputies were called to the home for a domestic incident a few weeks ago, but he offered no other details. Thomas has no significant criminal history, and domestic battery charges against her were dropped in 2002. Jaxs Johnson was set to appear in juvenile court on Tuesday for a misdemeanor battery charge involving his mother, but it’s not known if the hearing played a role in the shootings. School officials issued a statement after being informed of the deaths. “Brevard Public Schools is saddened to learn of the tragic deaths of four of its students. The police have released the students’ names and crisis teams/grief counselors have been sent to the respective schools to help students, faculty and staff deal with this heartbreaking news,” school officials said. It’s a cold world but sometimes it’s not what’s outside that gets us. Just heartbreaking. Video and photos below: Source Photo Credit: Brevard County Reporter

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Epitome Of A Bad Mother: Port St. John Mom Murks Four Kids Before Killing Herself [Video]