A Florida mother, Hailey Dempsey, killed her mother and two daughters before dying by suicide , police said, after a troubled weekend involving her husband.
About an hour later, a witness reported finding several people who appeared to have been shot and hearing a young child crying. She then left with her three young daughters and shot two of them before turning the gun on herself, as per WFLA . “It wasn’t cheating or anything like that, evidently it was just porn, and they were having an argument over that. That night, Dempsey left the house with her mother and children and stayed at a hotel. Surveillance footage later helped investigators trace Dempsey and the children through several streets in Plant City. Officers responded to reports of gunshots but did not initially find the victims. Tever St Dempsey and the two younger children later died.
Hailey Megan Dempsey was a 27-year-old mother from Plant City, Florida. On May 3, police say she shot and killed her 55-year-old mother, Valerie DeBoe, inside the family’s North Burton Street home. Her 2-year-old daughter survived after Dempsey allegedly fired at her but missed. The first call, on May 1, came after Dempsey got into a verbal argument with her husband, Jay Dempsey, over pornography she found on his phone. Police said four gunshots were recorded at about 6:57am in the 900 block of North Wheeler Street. Police found Dempsey, her 4-year-old daughter, her 4-month-old daughter and her surviving 2-year-old daughter near 303 W. Police said Dempsey had also fired at the 2-year-old but missed.
Police were called to the Dempsey household three times in the two days before the murder-suicide, according to Mills. I think that’s what everything stemmed from,” Mills said The responding officer found “no indication whatsoever” of violence or criminal behavior between the couple. Police were called again later that day after Dempsey said she believed a tracking device had been placed on her car but officers found none.
Plant City Police Chief Richard Mills Jr gave an update on the case during a press conference on Thursday, August 13, closing a three-month investigation .
