Mindy Osteen Arrested; – A Florida woman is accused of shooting and killing her children’s father at a day care.
Mindy Osteen, 34, was booked into the Bradford County Jail on charges of first-degree murder, cruelty toward a child, weapon possession and larceny.
According to the arrest report, witnesses saw Osteen approach Christopher Travis Jones, 37, last Friday at Auntie Lili’s Daycare as he picked up their kids.
Detectives say that as he left the building with the children, Osteen walked up with a backpack and hugged them.
Jones put both children in the back of his car and got into the driver’s seat. That’s when Osteen pulled a gun out of the bag and fired three shots into the vehicle, authorities said.
Osteen then backed up and fired two more shots at Jones.
Authorities said the father then jumped out of the vehicle, but as he tried to run away, Osteen fired another shot.
Jones ran into the day care to take shelter, but couldn’t get through the second security door.
With Jones trapped between the front door and the second door, Osteen fired three more shots. Her gun then malfunctioned, and she stepped outside to clear it.
Authorities report witnesses hearing her say, “Please, let the monster die.”
She then walked back to Jones and said, “You got to die … you can’t kill my kids.”
Jones replied, “I’m not killing nobody.”
When Bradford County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, Jones told them Osteen was responsible for the shooting.
When they approached, Osteen said, “I’m right here, y’all. I done it in self-defense.”
Jones was taken to the hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
In addition to Osteen and Jones’s two children in the vehicle, six children and two employees were inside the day care at the time of the shooting.
