A Florida father once shadowed by suspicion in a devastating family shooting has been cleared after police said the evidence shows his wife killed two of their children and her mother before turning the gun on herself.
Jay Dempsey, 27, came under intense scrutiny after the May 3 deaths of his wife, 28-year-old Hailey Dempsey, her mother, 58-year-old Valerie DeBoe, and two of the couple’s young children in Hillsborough County, Florida. In the aftermath, he also lost custody of the couple’s surviving child.
Plant City Police Chief Richard Mills Jr. announced Thursday that investigators determined Hailey Dempsey was responsible for the killings. Authorities also said the couple’s only surviving child, a two-year-old girl, was fired at by her mother, who missed before dying by suicide.
The shocking deaths rattled the Tampa-area community and quickly fueled speculation, especially after Jay Dempsey was taken in for questioning as detectives worked to piece together what happened inside the home.
Although Jay was never arrested or charged in connection with the Florida family tragedy, online commentators and social media sleuths circulated claims casting doubt on him, with some suggesting or directly alleging he had a role in the violence.
Mills said Thursday that Jay fully cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation, while acknowledging that detectives needed time to gather enough evidence to formally eliminate him as a suspect.
“My responsibility as chief of police was to protect the integrity of this investigation until our detectives have evidence necessary to reach a definitive conclusion,” Mills said.
After the police briefing, Jay Dempsey’s attorney, Patrick Courtney, said his client was relieved to have been vindicated, but emphasized that the loss remains profoundly painful and “still hurts bitterly.”
Hailey Dempsey, 28, killed her mother Valerie DeBoe, 58, in her home in Hillsborough, Florida on May 20, before taking her children outside and shooting them outside another nearby home, according to investigators
The murders led to allegations that Hailey’s husband Jay was responsible after he was hauled in for questioning. Jay was never arrested or charged in connection with the tragedy, and he has now been vindicated by police
In a statement on behalf of Jay, Courtney said: ‘There are possible words to say about those who would bear false witness, and essential processes that were ignored.
‘Words and actions based in misinformation, that sought anger and escalation. But our family seeks what is good. We seek hope and life.’
When Dempsey was taken in for questioning following the murders, the Florida Department of Children placed his surviving two-year-old daughter in foster care.
She remained under the care of the state for months, leaving Dempsey grieving the deaths of his family and struggling to get his young daughter back while pleading his innocence.
He eventually obtained custody of his daughter on July 1 after the Florida Department of Children filed a motion to end its shelter status of the child, as it said police had not arrested Dempsey or referred the case to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.
In the motion requesting to give Dempsey his child back, the department said to its knowledge, ‘the father is not a suspect.’ A judge granted the motion that same day.
In his statement on Thursday, Jay continued: ‘What we can say IS good is that finally, after months of anxious waiting, our beloved child has come home.
‘We profusely thank the foster family who came alongside our daughter during this time. K.D. is vibrant and full of life: a demonstration of love and care.’
He also thanked ‘brothers and sisters who rushed to help the Dempsey family in our desperate hour of need. The aftershock and pain is something no one can suffer alone. But we are not alone… All of us are having to cope with massive loss that no one should.’
Hailey Dempsey also shot dead her own mother Valerie DeBoe, 58, during the murder-suicide episode, police say
Jay Dempsey lost custody of his surviving child for months after his wife killed two of their children, her own mother and then herself
At Thursday’s press conference, Plant City police Chief Richard Mills Jr. said solving the murders took an ‘extremely complex investigation’ involving ‘extensive forensic analysis and a significant amount of digital evidence.’
‘This investigation demanded patience, diligence, and precision,’ Mills said.
‘Our responsibility for both families and to our community was to follow evidence wherever it led, and establish the truth of what occurred.’
Investigators have not disclosed a possible motive for the slayings, however Mills said ‘there are indications of some mental illness involved with the case.’
According to previously released records from police, officers found Hailey and her two children in the yard of a home on West Tever Street at around 10am local time on May 3.
Hailey was alive with a gunshot wound to her temple, and she was laying on top of one of her deceased children, records showed. Another child was deceased next to her with a gunshot wound to the head, and a third child was uninjured nearby.
The mother was taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries soon after, while officers said their investigation led them to the Dempsey family home on North Franklin Street.
Officers then found DeBoe’s body on the second-floor of the home.
Authorities said evidence showed Hailey Dempsey killed her own mother, then shot two of her children and attempting to shoot a third, before turning the gun on herself
Jay Dempsey fell under scrutiny from police after his car was found outside the home where DeBoe’s body was discovered, and neighbors told officers that they saw him leave in a different car early on the morning of the murders.
He was taken in for questioning, but was never arrested or charged. His attorney said he cooperated fully with the investigation.
