By J.D. Gallop and Scott Gunnerson
Florida Today
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators are taking a closer look at a recent domestic abuse call involving a 33-year-old mother who apparently went on a shooting spree early Tuesday, killing her four children and herself, the Brevard County sheriff’s office said.
At one point, three of the wounded children ran to a neighbor’s house, but their mother, Tonya Thomas, stepped out and beckoned them to return to the house. She then fatally shot them before deputies arrived.
The children were identified as Joel Johnson, 12; Jazzlyn Johnson, 13; Jaxs Johnson, 15; and Pebbles Johnson, 17, said sheriff’s Lt. Tod Goodyear.
Thomas reportedly texted a friend at about 3 a.m. that she wanted to be cremated with her children.
Investigators were called to the same home in April to investigate previous complaints from Thomas that her 15-year-old son threw his bicycle through a window. The boy was also alleged to have kicked his mother in the stomach and pushed her to the floor as she woke him to get ready for school.
It was not immediately clear whether the previous incidents were connected to Tuesday’s deadly shootings. The 15-year-old, identified as Jaxs Johnson, was set to appear in Brevard County Juvenile Court on the charges, authorities reported.
“I’m a father and I’ve got kids,” Goodyear said. “I cannot comprehend a person doing that to their child calling them back to the slaughter.”
Sheriff’s deputies and the county’s SWAT team responded to the home after a 5 a.m. call reporting that shots were fired.
The neighbor who called heard a knock and went to the door to find three of the children standing outside, asking for help, Goodyear said. At least one appeared to have been shot, and the neighbor handed the victim a towel.
At that point, Thomas stepped outside and told the children to return home. The children listened to their mother and walked back to the house, Goodyear said. Moments later, more gunfire ensued.
The officers spotted one victim, the 17-year-old girl, lying in the front yard. Deputies pulled up, put her in their patrol car and drove her to a waiting ambulance. Paramedics declared her dead at the scene.
Deputies saw movement inside the house, including what appeared to be a lit cigarette, Goodyear said. Then came a final shot.
Dispatch records released Tuesday show that authorities responded to Thomas’ house on three successive days in April.
Records also showed that Thomas was arrested in 2002 on a misdemeanor battery charge for striking the father of her children. The charge was later dropped.
Former neighbor Travis St. Peter said the family was known in the neighborhood for being disruptive. He said police were often at the house.
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