Florida Mom Killed 4 Kids, Then Herself 5-16 Noon

Deputies: Florida Mom Killed 4 Kids, Then Herself

Port St. John, FL (AP) -- May 21, 2012 --

New reports reveal that Tonya Thomas, a Florida mother, shot her four children 18 times before killing herself. She was also a victim of domestic abuse.

The shootings happened Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Port St. John, near Cape Canaveral. The children fled to a neighbor's house, but returned when Thomas came outside and called for them to return. Authorities said she then fired the fatal rounds, smoked a cigarette and later killed herself.

According to USA Today, Brevard County's medical examiner wrote in a report that 33-year-old Tonya Thomas used a Taurus .38-caliber revolver to shoot and kill her children Joel Johnson, 12, Jazzlyn Johnson, 13, Jaxs Johnson, 15, and Pebbles Johnson, 17.

There were 19 gunshot wounds found on the victims, including the self-inflicted wound found on Thomas' body, according to the report. One child was shot seven times while the youngest child was shot five times from more than two feet away. The revolver was fired against the chest of at least two children.

Meanwhile, an investigator of the Department of Children and Families spoke to Thomas and the children weeks before the family massacre and said there were no signs that the children were in distress, according to The Associated Press. Each child said they felt safe in their central Florida home.

But hundreds of documents released by state officials Friday detailed the family's history and revealed that Thomas was a woman trapped in a cycle of domestic violence and was also abused or neglected as a child.

In 2000, children watched as their father Joe Johnson yelled at Thomas for not making dinner, then punched and kicked her, knocking her into a wall. The children were removed from their parent's home for a month but were returned despite DCF's objections.

The documents also said Thomas was not verbally or mentally abusive to the children. Investigators spoke with neighbors and school officials and watched the children at home and said they "appear bonded to their parents." A supervisor signed off on the case on May 13.

It's unclear how much contact the family had with Joe Johnson in the weeks before the shooting. He was not living at the home and an investigator wrote Thomas "does not have a relationship with a partner that is supportive of her ability to protect and nurture her children," according to documents written last month.

Multiple listings for Joe Johnson dialed by an AP reporter on Friday were disconnected or incorrect numbers.

"This is a horrendous tragedy, While these files offer a glimpse inside the families' home, they do not appear to contain the answer as to `why' this happened that we all seek at this time," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said.

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911 tape: Confusion at home where mom shot kids
by Kyle Hightower, AP

Port St. John, FL (AP) -- May 16, 2012 --

The neighbors of a Florida woman who fatally shot her four children before committing suicide were confused initially about who had been shot when they opened their front door in the middle of the night to find three of the kids outside.

A 911 call released Wednesday shows that the neighbors weren't sure if 33-year-old Tonya Thomas had shot her children or if one of them had shot her.

Thomas called the children back to her house before the neighbors could help them.

Authorities say Thomas shot them as they came back and then shot herself.

The 911 call doesn't offer an explanation as to why the children returned home.

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(CBS/AP) PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. - May 16, 2012 -

Authorities say a Florida woman shot and killed her four children before shooting herself at a Port St. John home.

Sheriff's deputies in Brevard County said 33-year-old Tanya Thomas on Tuesday shot 17-year-old Pebbles Johnson, 13-year-old Jazlin Johnson, 15-year-old Jaxs Johnson and 12-year-old Joel Johnson. She then took her own life.

Sheriff spokesman Tod Goodyear says three of the children went to a neighbor's house early Tuesday to say their mother had shot them. The mother then called the children back to the house and killed them.

"It appeared they had been shot," Goodyear said. "The mother of the children came out of the residence next door, called for the children to return home, at which time they left and went back to the house."

The neighbor then heard gunshots and called 911. Deputies found Pebbles Johnson dead in the front yard of the home at 7245 Bright Avenue.

Another neighbor told deputies that Thomas sent a text message in the middle of the night saying she wanted to be cremated with her children, Goodyear said.

Goodyear said the father of the children lives elsewhere in Brevard County and was very distraught upon hearing the news.

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PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. (AP) -- May 15, 2012 --

More than a month before a Florida mother fatally shot her four children and then herself, authorities were called to the woman's home because of fights and allegations of inadequate supervision.

Dispatch records released Tuesday show that authorities responded to Tonya Thomas' house on three successive days in April.

In the first visit, on Easter Sunday, Thomas reported that her son had thrown a bicycle through a window at the house. The next day, Thomas called to report that her son had kicked and punched her when she tried to wake him up for school. The following day, child welfare investigators visited the house to look into allegations of inadequate supervision of the children.

Deputies say Thomas fatally shot her four children at their Port St. John home on Tuesday morning.

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PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. (AP) -- May 15, 2012 - Noon -

Authorities say a Florida mother shot and killed her four children before shooting herself.

Sheriff's deputies in Brevard County said 33-year-old Tanya Thomas on Tuesday shot her four children, who ranged in age from 12 to 17.

Sheriff spokesman Tod Goodyear says three of the children went to a neighbor's house early Tuesday to say their mother had shot them. The mother then called the children back to the house and killed them.

Goodyear says the neighbors called 911.