(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a horrifying murder-suicide case, a Florida mother committed an unspeakable crime when she shot and killed her two children, aged 10 and 19, after which she took her own life.
Before committing suicide, 43-year-old Brandy Hutchins gunned down her 10-year-old son and her daughter, 19, according to the authorities of Polk County, Florida, Boston 25 News reports.
According to Sheriff Grady Judd, Hutchins killed herself and her children to defy a court order that had just granted custody of her son to the boy’s father.
The order to hand over the 10-year-old child to the father, who lives in Maine, was issued last Thursday.
The transfer of the child was scheduled for Friday evening, but the mother didn’t obey the court order.
Hutchins was supposed to bring the boy to a district office of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office by 6 p.m. on Friday, according to WFLA-TA.
However, she refused to comply, causing deputies first to visit her Lake Wales home. She committed the murder-suicide on Sunday at another location.
As the police began a search for the missing boy, at midday on Sunday, they were called up to a mobile home in Waverly, only to find out that Hutchins had slaughtered both her children before killing herself.
“I can’t imagine a more horrific set of circumstances,” Judd told reporters.
“My heart breaks for all of the family. We are devastated for this 10-year-old child all because mom did not want to turn the child over to the rightful father pursuant to a court order,” he added.
The sheriff said the woman’s 19-year-old daughter was not involved in the custody battle since she had a different father.
“Let me underscore at this point in time that there was absolutely zero evidence in the court order or the testimony that there was any violence or threat of violence or danger,” Judd said.
His deputies confirmed that the mother had no prior criminal record or history of violence. The murder-suicide remains under investigation.