According to law enforcement, a father kidnapped his 1-year-old daughter, then gunned down the child’s mother in Newton County before turning his gun on the baby and himself in Clayton County on Sunday morning.
Investigators said they’re still trying to figure out what sparked the crime, which transformed a quiet Covington area into a complete nightmare.
When the 1-year-old Jaquari Bennett’s grandmother, who was also shot by the father, informed police that the father had fled with the baby, an Amber Alert was issued.
Officials said Jaquari Bennett, who was kidnapped Saturday night by her father Darian Javaris Bennett, was shot to death hours after he killed her mother and shot her grandmother in the head.
The incident began late Saturday night in a Covington area at a house. It ended on the property of Riverdale United Methodist Church, where Bennett called 911 shortly after 7 p.m., threatening to kill himself.
Sunday early morning. Bennett shot his daughter behind the Riverdale Road church and then shot himself before police arrived.
She stated that church leaders were just arriving to start preparing for services when they were informed of what had occurred just a few hundred feet away.
“The fact that something like this happened here again makes you just want to cry out to God because we need prayer. People are hurting,” King said.
According to officials, Bennett gunned down Jaquari’s mother, who had two other children. Investigators said he also shot the baby’s grandmother twice in the head before he took off with her. She remains in critical condition.
Authorities stated that they don’t know what triggered this and aren’t familiar with any prior arrests for Bennett or known mental illness but hope to have more information in the coming days.
