Hailey Dempsey discovered shocking content on her husband’s phone before allegedly k!:lling her own mother and children
A MOTHER went on a sickening killing spree after finding her husband’s porn stash and accusing him of cheating on her, police have revealed.
Police gave the shocking update on Thursday, months after four family members, including the mom, were found shot to death in the street in a quiet Florida neighborhood in May.
Police seen outside a home in Plant City, Florida after reports of a shooting on May 3Credit: WFTS
Police said Hailey Dempsey shot and killed her mother, two of her kids and herself in a murder-suicideCredit: Facebook
The Plant City Police Department shared an update on the case on Thursday, confirming the incident was a murder-suicide.
Police Chief Richard Mills Jr. confirmed Hailey Dempsey shot and killed her 55-year-old mother, Valerie DeBoe, in Plant City, east of Tampa, on May 3.
She then gathered her three children and left her mother’s home on foot before concealing herself and her three children behind some bushes at another house.
Hailey then shot and killed her four-year-old and four-month-old daughters.
Son ‘gunned down parents in murder-suicide’ as strange sound heard from home
She shot at her two-year-old daughter but missed, and then turned the gun on herself, dying by suicide, Mills said.
The shooting took place at 6:57am, investigators determined, revealing that police arrived 50 minutes later, meaning the surviving child had been outside by herself for nearly an hour afterward.
The police chief said the surviving daughter is in now staying with family and is in “very good health.”
Officials said on Thursday that the motive remained unclear and that there were indications of mental illness, but no further information would be released.
Before the killings, Hailey went up to a nearby house “asking for help,” where the children could be seen crying.
DeBoe, Hailey’s mother who was staying with her at the time of the incident, was remembered in a GoFundMe as a “devoted wife, mother, grandmother, mentor, and leader.”
“She was especially joyful in this season of life as ‘Gigi’ to her three grandchildren,” the fundraiser read, revealing she is survived by her husband of 30 years and two sons, ages 26 and 18.
Police confirmed that Hailey’s husband, Jay Dempsey, was ruled out as a suspect after thorough investigation.
The investigation spanned across two crime scene locations in Plant City, Florida, a city east of TampaCredit: WFLA
Valerie DeBoe, Hailey’s mother, was shot and killed on May 3Credit: GoFundMe
Hailey and Jay got into an argument before the murders, seemingly stemming from infidelity and porn that she found on her husband’s phone, police said.
Officials responded to their home three times, once on May 1 and two times on May 2.
“There was no indication whatsoever, we asked several times, nothing criminal involved, no violence involved, it was just an argument,” Mills said.
“It was in fact surrounding some infidelity and some porn that she allegedly found on one of his cell phones.
“They do have religious beliefs in the family, so they were going through some issues related to the porn. I think that’s where everything stemmed from,” Mills explained.
On May 1, Hailey gathered her belongings and left with her mother and children, but called police later in the afternoon believing a tracker may have been put on her car.
Officials found there was no tracker, and Hailey stayed at a hotel with her mother and kids that night.
She asked the police to standby as she returned to the house the next day to gather more of her items.
Hailey pictured with one of her daughters at a birthday partyCredit: GoFundMe
One of Hailey’s children pictured in a GoFundMeCredit: GoFundMe
Hailey later met up with Jay at a library and had a one-on-one conversation.
“This was an extremely complex investigation involving multiple crime scenes that had to be thoroughly processed,” Mills said, adding hundreds of pieces of evidence were collected and examined as several interviews were conducted to get to the truth of the investigation.
Mills acknowledged the months-long wait in releasing information regarding the case, saying releasing information prematurely could have jeopardized witness statements and compromised the investigation.
A statement provided by an attorney for the Dempsey family shared with NBC affiliate WFLA said the surviving child, identified as K.D., had been placed under state protection and in foster care after the incident, but is now reunited with family.
“What we can say IS good is that finally, after months of anxious waiting, our beloved child has come home,” the statement read.
“We profusely thank the foster family who came alongside our daughter during this time. K.D. is Vibrant and Full of life: a demonstration of love and care.”
Mills also addressed Jay being spotted in what was described as “body armor” on May 1.
The police chief said Jay is a gun advocate and owns several guns and had been under the impression that the police or the ATF was going to come back to the home because he had guns.
“Although they were all legal, he just had in his mind that ‘Hey the police were just here, so they’re gonna come back and they’re gonna come in my house and find my guns and take my guns from me.’
“So he went inside, he gathered his guns, and he did have body armor, just a vest that you throw over. He didn’t have anywhere else to put the body armor so he was just carrying the guns out,” he said, adding that Jay brought the items to his friend’s house.
Jay was staying at a friend’s house in Lakeland at the time of the shootings and had been detained on the afternoon of May 3 while officers were conducting a search warrant.
Officials said he cooperated with police, and that they were able to establish his whereabouts at the time of the killings, ruling him out as a suspect.
Hailey was seen on neighbor’s security cameras leaving her home around 5:35am on May 3 and going up to a nearby residence.
Officials say she was seen on security cameras through 6:01am, and later spotted walking down a street around 6:40am.
At one point she knocked on a door asking a neighbor for help, and when the resident went to get her partner, Hailey and the kids were gone.
Police say Hailey left the house with just a gun and her daughters, which made identifying her tricky as she had no identification on her.
FDA urgently recalls popular blood pressure medication
“I’ve been in law enforcement for 34 years and I’m sorry but it’s kind of tough right now, it kind of hit me hard,” Mills said with a cracking voice as he held back tears.
“I was on that scene, and it was probably the worst scene I’ve ever seen in my life,” he continued, adding that he had to bring in a regional critical management team for his police officers and fire department for what they saw at the scene.
SOURCE: THE SUN
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16837312/hailey-dempsey-murder-suicide-update-plant-city-florida/
