LAWTEY, Fla. – A mother and her two adult daughters were found shot to death early Tuesday morning at a home in Bradford County after an 11-year-old girl called 911 at 2 a.m. about what investigators called a “domestic incident.”
Johnnie Bernard Brown, 46, has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder for killing his longtime partner Quinqune “Cat” Robinson, 49, and her two adult daughters -- Denesha Sims, 27, and Winshay Roddey, 25 -- Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith said.
Smith said the 11-year-old who called 911 witnessed the shooting and was hit by bullet shrapnel. Several metallic fragments were removed from her shoulder at the hospital before she was released. Robinson was the girl’s grandmother and Sims and Roddey were her aunts, Smith said.
“This morning, evil struck our county,” Smith told News4JAX. “The whole situation is just tragic.”
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Smith, who knows the family, said the girl was at the Sheriff’s Office Tuesday afternoon as social workers tried to find a family member to take custody of her.
“She’s a strong little young lady,” Smith said. “She’s so resilient but at the end of the day what long-term effects does this have on this child?”
The sheriff said the traumatic experience and disruption to her life are sure to take a toll.
“I think she’s very resilient and she’s got plenty of people around her to love her through this process,” Smith said.
WATCH: Sheriff gives update on 11-year-old after triple murder:
The Sheriff’s Office said the girl’s first 911 call got disconnected. Before that, a young voice can be heard talking to the dispatcher before a sharp scream. You can hear the voices of a man and woman yelling in the background.
Following their procedures, the dispatcher called back several times after the call dropped. Smith said they kept trying because “you could tell something was occurring.”
When they finally got the girl back on the line, the dispatcher asked if everything was OK.
“No! Come now,” a young voice replied. “Come now. Just come.”
Deputies got to the mobile home on Northeast 17th Avenue, west of U.S. 301 just outside the Lawtey city limits, and found Brown walking in the front yard of the property with several cuts on his body.
A deputy gave Brown first aid and called for rescue and backup.
The 11-year-old knew the lieutenant who showed up at the scene and told him her loved ones were inside the mobile home and “something was wrong with them.”
The lieutenant found the three women together in one of the bedrooms, and it was obvious they had been shot.
Two deputies went with Brown to Shands UF Gainesville Hospital while investigators tried to sort out what happened. After he was released from the hospital, he was charged in Alachua County with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for the 11-year-old. He will be returned to Bradford County.
“These are things we watch on TV. We come to our sanctuary here in Bradford County... so this is shocking. It has shocked a great, loving hard-working community,” Smith said.
He said while domestic violence incidents happen regularly, it’s been years since the community has had a homicide, let alone a triple murder.
“It’s like an earthquake moving throughout our community because it is so shocking,” Smith said. “Not just one person, but three. Their lives were taken from them. And to us, it’s our job to make sure that individual is held accountable.”
According to his arrest report, Brown told investigators he and Robinson were arguing and Roddey and Sims got involved and “came at him with knives.” He said he grabbed his gun and started shooting at the three women and when they ran away he “went mad” and kept shooting.
Investigators found a kitchen knife in Sims’ hand, saying she was holding it with her arms crossed in a defensive manner as she hid behind a chair in the bedroom. Another knife was found at Robinson’s feet.
The arrest report said investigators noticed bullet holes in the wall and door that indicated the bedroom door was closed when the shots were fired. The door was also locked.
The 11-year-old told deputies that “grandpa was hurting grandma and her two aunts and grandpa said ‘they should have stayed out of it.’”
Click here to donate to the GoFundMe that was created to support the family during their time of need.