Florida Mom Fatally Shoots 2 Young Sons Before Killing Herself: Deputies

BASCOM, FL - A Florida woman fatally shot her two sons as they arrived home from school, then killed herself, authorities said. The mom was identified as 25-year-old Esbeidi Sanchez who deputies say shot 7-year-old Ronaldinio Ramirez-Sanchez and 5-year-old Gustavo-Angel Ramirez-Sanchez on Oct. 6, The Panama City News Herald reported.

Her husband discovered the bodies and called 911, the newspaper reported. Jackson County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home and found the mother and one of the boys already dead. The other boy was airlifted to a nearby hospital but died on Saturday. Both boys had been shot in the head, deputies said. The shooting remains under investigation, the Associated Press reported.

“Everybody’s flabbergasted,” said Brother John Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church in Malone told USA Today. “She was a very beautiful lady and seemed like she had a real sweet personality. She didn’t indicate that anything was wrong whatsoever.”

Smith said Sanchez had faithfully attended Sunday service and Wednesday night youth programs at First Baptist Church with her children. The pastor said she was baptized on Oct. 1, less than a week before she killed her sons.

The newspaper reports Sanchez left a suicide note. The note describes hardships, but did not explain why she shot her children.

“The note that she left does indicate that this is what she wanted to do,” said Capt. Scott Edwards of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. “Basically it was describing some incidents that occurred in her past that probably led up to this. It mentions the kids, but it doesn’t mention why she would do that to the kids. It’s probably one of the things we’ll never know,” the newspaper reported.

Read the Panama City News Herald’s story here.

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