‘Please, let the monster die’: Mom accused of gunning down her kids’ father at their daycare during pickup
A Florida mom has been charged with murder after allegedly gunning down the father of her child outside a daycare center.
Police responded to reports of a woman with a gun and shots being fired at Auntie Lili’s Child Care Center just before 6 p.m. on Friday.
Mindy Osteen, 34, has now been charged with first degree murder over the death of Christopher Jones, who was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering several gunshot wounds. She has also been charged with two counts of child abuse.
According to an arrest report, obtained by local outlets, witnesses saw Osteen approach Jones after he left the daycare center with the two children – who she hugged.
However, after Jones put the children in the back of his car and got into the driver’s seat, Osteen allegedly pulled out a gun and fired three times into the vehicle.
As Jones attempted to flee, Osteen allegedly shot at him again. Jones ran to the daycare to take shelter but could not get through the security door, the report said. Osteen then fired three more shots at him, police said.
Witnesses reported hearing Osteen saying: “Please, let the monster die,” before allegedly telling Jones: “You got to die … you can’t kill my kids.”
Jones replied, “I’m not killing nobody,” per the report.
Osteen was still in the area when deputies from Bradford County Sheriff’s department arrived but claimed her actions had been in self-defense. Jones was still alive when officers arrived and was later taken to hospital but did not survive his injuries.
Jones’ sister, Melanie Russo, has disputed the self-defense claim, stating that her brother was a victim of domestic abuse and had sought help previously.
Major George Konkel of the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office later said that the incident had been made more disturbing due to the fact that, moments before the shooting, “nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.”
“Like a flip of a switch, and then she turned into this person,” Konkel said.
“What’s kind of more haunting than anything else with this incident, is that it looked like you were just watching the typical child pickup from a daycare.
