Father Kills Children During Police Pursuit
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SANFORD (CBSMiami/AP) — A Sanford man killed his two young children and himself shortly after he fatally stabbed his estranged wife.
Authorities say the spree began late Sunday when 30-year-old Henry Ramone Brown waited in the trunk of Chericia Brown's vehicle, outside a Chili's restaurant. In a news release, Seminole County Sheriff's officials say Henry Brown stabbed her and ran over her with his car. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Officials say Henry Brown went to his apartment complex and switched vehicles. He then picked up the couple's children, ages 4 and 1, from a baby sitter and drove to Central Florida Regional Hospital to find his estranged wife, arriving almost an hour and a half after the initial attack. He was confronted by deputies and Sanford police, fired at them and ran from the hospital.
Deputies located him on Interstate 4. Inside his car, they found the bodies of Henry Brown and the children. Detectives believe he killed the children sometime after picking them up, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
A paramedic and nurse, who came to help Chericia Brown after she was stabbed, also were injured when he ran over his wife with his car, according to the police report.
Altamonte Springs police records show Chericia Brown filed a domestic violence injunction against her husband in January.
She initially filed an incident report with the Altamonte Springs police on December 18, 2015, according to official documents obtained by The Associated Press. In the report, Chericia said she believed her husband was cheating on her and that he had threatened to kill her if she took the couple's children away from him.
In the report, Chericia Brown described multiple incidents of Henry Brown pulling her by the hair, slapping her face and threatening her kids and a friend when she went to the friend's home to get away from her husband.
But police investigators said in their report that Chericia Brown didn't have facial injuries to support her claims of being slapped. Henry Brown told detectives that his wife was upset over the fact that he had a mistress and her story was "a lie" to get back at him for having the mistress, according to a statement he gave police.
Chericia Brown hadn't returned to their home and had no plans to return so "the fear of further violence doesn't exist," according to the Dec. 20 police report.
The State Attorney's Office agreed, writing in the police report, "There is insufficient evidence to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt."
In a form she filled out for the State Attorney's Office on Dec. 21, she checked the boxes "fearful" and "nervous" when asked to describe her state of mind, and she checked "yes" for the question, "Do you think your partner/offender is capable of killing you?" according to records released by the State Attorney's Office.
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