Father Abducts Baby After Killing Mother And Grandmother, Then Shoots The Child And Himself

Covington, Georgia -- The search for a 1-year-old missing toddler in Georgia came to an end after the child was found fatally shot beside her deceased father.

Darian Javaris Bennett, the baby’s father, allegedly shot the child and then pulled the trigger on himself.

The Newton County Sheriff's Office said the series of tragic events began Saturday night at a home in Covington. Bennett had allegedly shot the mother of his child as well as the grandmother before abducting the baby, identified as Jaquari.

Deputies arrived at the house on Chandler Field Drive after receiving a 911 call at around 11:14 p.m. local time, Sgt. Jack Redlinger said, according to NBC affiliate WXIA.

The baby’s mother, 38-year-old Keshawn Washington, was found dead at the scene. The grandmother sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

The grandmother spoke to deputies and said Bennett shot them before fleeing with baby Jaquari.

Washington’s two older children, aged 11 and 12, were inside the house when she was fatally shot. The two children are unrelated to Bennett and were physically unharmed during the incident.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced an Amber Alert Sunday morning for Jaquari.

Hours after the abduction, Bennett called 911 at around 7:30 a.m. Sunday and told officers that he was near a church in Riverdale. He also threatened to shoot his daughter and them himself.

Riverdale police later found Bennett’s black Honda Accord with the door open in front of the First United Methodist Church, Law & Crime reported. The sound of gunshots then came from behind the building.

Both Bennett and Jaquari were found dead in the woods, investigators said.

“I had a gut feeling … that this was the way this was going to end,” Redlinger said, according to CBS46. “It’s a shot in the gut. We’ve been working all night long trying to locate him. We were hoping it would end differently. You know, all of us have children and we’re still reeling this morning from what happened.”

Residents in the neighborhood were shocked by the tragic events that unfolded.

“I would’ve never believed this would happen. This is a quiet neighborhood,” Sylvia McLurkin told the outlet.

Speaking about the victim, neighbor Frederick McLurkin said, “Just 48 hours ago, she was sitting right there, baby in her hand, talking about the kids, chunk chunk she called her. I hear about him. When she tells me how rude he is. Nasty.”

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