Dad kills 1-year-old’s mother, then abducts and kills the infant, Georgia officials say
A father killed his 1-year-old daughter and himself after killing the baby’s mother and kidnapping the child in Georgia, officials told local news outlets.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert for the child, Jaquari Bennett, early Sunday, June 12, on behalf of the Newton County Sheriff’s office. The agency said in a Facebook post that Jaquari was last seen in Covington and was believed to be with Darian Javaris Bennett.
Later on June 12, the GBI posted an update saying Jaquari had died.
Officials with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office told CBS46 that Bennett, 38, shot and killed Jaquari’s mother at a home in Covington on the night of Saturday, June 11, then kidnapped the child.
Deputies arrived to find the mother, 38-year-old Keshawn Washington, dead and Jaquari’s grandmother suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, officials told WXIA. The grandmother, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition, told deputies that Bennett had taken the child.
The mother’s other children, ages 11 and 12, were inside the home at the time and were picked up by another family member that night, officials told CBS46.
On the morning of June 12, Bennett called law enforcement, saying he was outside a church in Riverdale with Jaquari and “threatening to harm the child and himself,” officials told FOX 5.
He then shot the baby “before turning the gun on himself,” officials said, according to the outlet.
No other information has been released as of Sunday, June 12. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Newton County Sheriff’s Office at 706-717-9915, WXIA reported.
Covington is about 35 miles outside of Atlanta.
This story was originally published June 12, 2022 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Dad kills 1-year-old’s mother, then abducts and kills the infant, Georgia officials say."
