SATSUMA, Fla. – A 25-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder after a woman’s body was found in a Satsuma home Sunday following a standoff between the man and Putnam County deputies.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies were first called to the home Sunday at about 3:20 p.m. by the woman who was later found dead. She called the non-emergency line to report Christian Alan Wilkinson, 25, had stolen her phone and gun.
The Sheriff’s Office said two deputies responded within 20 minutes to the Marlin Drive home, banging on the doors and calling the number the woman left as a contact number. Deputies said they didn’t see any drivable vehicles at the property and there was no indication anyone was at the home.
Just over an hour later, at 4:55 p.m., dispatchers received a second call about Wilkinson from a family member, saying he was threatening to commit suicide.
When deputies arrived the second time, Wilkinson was inside the home refusing to come out. Information deputies received from family members said Wilkinson had threatened to harm himself and that there was possibly a dead person inside the home.
Deputies were able to talk to Wilkinson on a cellphone, and he surrendered, allowing deputies to perform a safety search of the home, where they found the woman dead of a gunshot wound in a bedroom.
News4JAX asked Chief Deputy Colonel Joseph Wells why didn’t deputies go inside the home after the first call and if that would’ve prevented her death.
“It does appear that they were thorough on the initial response and there was just no indication there was any trouble inside the home at that point,” Wells said.
Joey Garcia said that he couldn’t access his home because deputies blocked it off.
“When I got home, I seen a lot of police officers. We couldn’t even park our vehicles inside,” Garcia said.
The woman is not being identified at this time, deputies said, but they said she is a non-intimate family member of Wilkinson.
Before Sunday’s shooting, deputies have responded to the home 10 times since October 2022, the Sheriff’s Office said. None of the calls were of a violent nature to occupants in the home.
Wilkinson had a prior encounter with deputies in October in which he requested a Baker Act for himself due to self-harm thoughts.
A background check for Wilkinson shows only traffic offenses.
Wilkinson was arrested and taken to the Putnam County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He is also under suicide watch.
“It was surprising because not in a million years did I think that kid would so something like that,” Garcia said. “He’s a quiet kid.”