A Florida woman sent an eerie text to her friend this week just before her husband shot and killed her, then himself.
A Sheriff’s Deputy in Pasco County, Florida named Kirk Keithley committed a murder-suicide on Monday morning, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, taking the life of his wife, Samantha Keithley, before his own. Just hours before, late on Sunday night, Samantha sent a few frightened texts to a friend.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Kirk has lost his mind, Kristin,” she reportedly wrote. “He’s literally losing it. He’s been harassing me for the last 6 hours and I’ve asked him repeatedly to just leave me alone because I’m sick.”
Samantha also reportedly told her friend, Kristin Kellin, that she had taken off her wedding ring and thrown it outside. The Keithleys’ children were reportedly home for the entire debacle, and heard the arguments, the yelling, and ultimately, the gunshots.
A 14-year-old reportedly ran from the house to call 9-1-1 on Monday morning. By the time authorities arrived, both Keithley and Samantha had passed away. The teenager was unharmed, as were three more children who were upstairs in the house. They are 2, 3 and 7 years old in age.
“She was an amazing mother and an amazing friend and amazing wife,” Kellin told the paper. “This is horrible.”
Keithley was reportedly a nine-year veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s department. Sheriff Chad Chronister said that his deputies had never been called to the Keithleys’ home in Land O’Lakes, Florida before, though he said that Kirk had been reprimanded once in 2016. At the time, he was accused of “misuse of commmunications facilities.” Back in 2011, he also got a letter of counseling after he was involved in an “avoidable traffic crash.”
“Just pray for these kids,” said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco. “It’s Monday morning, there’s a lot of people waking up, getting ready to go to school, and there’s four children trying to put their shattered lives together and figure out what just happened to them overnight.”
“This is something that is impossible to comprehend for even the most seasoned person,” Chronister added. “Please keep them in your hearts as we all try to make our way through this tragedy.”
Family friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help the Keithleys’ four children. Kellin praised 14-year-old Mark for having the presence of mind to call authorities, calling him a hero.
“I know he couldn’t save his mother,” she said. “But he saw her lying there dead and ran to get out of the house to call 911.”
