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Thread: Grandpa Don Spirit kills his 6 grandkids and his daughter. He killed his son in 2001 in a hunting accident

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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Grandpa Don Spirit kills his 6 grandkids and his daughter. He killed his son in 2001 in a hunting accident

    http://mydeathspace.com/article/2014..._by_her_father

    I said in the thread title that he killed his grandson in 2001, but that is an error. He killed his son.


    Horror as man 'kills his six grandchildren and daughter before turning gun on himself' in small northern Florida town... 13 years after accidentally shooting his son dead while hunting
    Don Spirit, 51, allegedly killed his daughter Sarah, 28, and six of her children
    Shot and killed his son eight-year-old son Kyle while hunting in 2001
    Shooting took place in the small town of Bell, 30 miles west of Gainesville
    Florida law enforcement says it appears to be a 'murder suicide'
    Cops confirmed suspect called 911, saying he was going to 'harm others'

    A convicted felon has allegedly killed his six grandchildren and an adult daughter in a murder suicide in northern Florida - 13 years after he accidentally shot his eight-year-old son dead in a hunting accident.
    Don Spirit, 51, is said to have gunned down daughter, Sarah, 28, and her six sons and daughters, before turning the gun on himself in Bell, a town of only 350 people 30 miles west of Gainesville.
    The Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office confirmed that among the victims were Kaleb Kuhlmann, 11, Kylie Kuhlmann, nine, Johnathon Kuhlmann, eight, Brandon Stewart, four and Destiny Stewart, five.

    Deputies said they had been called to the residence before for a 'wide range of issues' at a news conference in the wake of the tragic incident.
    The suspect, Spirit, shot and killed his eight-year-old son Kyle during a hunting accident in 2001.
    According to the Orlando-Sentinel, he spent three years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon just as his trial was set to begin, in exchange for the minimum sentence.
    Spirit, having been convicted in 1998 for felony possession of marijuana, did not have rights to own a firearm. He was released in 2006.
    Following yesterday's shooting, Gilchrist's county sheriff Robert Schultz said the suspect called 911, suggesting he was going to 'harm others as well as himself'.
    Units were then sent to the family address where the suspect was found dead, along with seven victims. Schultz added that some people were still alive after the shooting, but would not elaborate on the number or their relationship to the family.
    He added that the department was not looking for anyone else in connection with the shooting but insisted the investigation was ongoing.



    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3Dkv2aYhQ
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    Sarah
    Last edited by bermstalker; 09-19-2014 at 02:31 AM.

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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Here is the old article about the son's deathhttp://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2003-01-24/news/0301230612_1_son-kyle-spirit-christine

    January 24, 2003|By Willoughby Mariano, Sentinel Staff Writer
    KISSIMMEE -- A man who accidentally shot his son to death in a hunting accident in 2001 will spend three years in prison for a felony firearms violation, according to a plea agreement reached Thursday with prosecutors.

    Don Charles Spirit pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon just as his trial was set to begin, in exchange for the minimum sentence. He could have faced a prison term of three to 15 years if convicted by a jury.



    Carrying a crumpled tissue in his hand, Spirit, 40, said he could not bear an emotionally bruising trial. At his side was his wife, Christine Spirit, wearing a shirt bearing a color image of their dead son Kyle. The words "My Special Angel," and Kyle's nickname, "AppleJax," surrounded it.

    "There's nothing I can do," Don Spirit said. He moved with his family from Tampa to Bell, west of Gainesville, after his son's death. He is set to appear for sentencing March 3 and is free on bond.

    "It's a tragedy all the way around," said Mike Saunders, deputy felony bureau chief for the State Attorney's Office. "But if he had followed the law, and had not possessed a firearm, his child would not be dead."

    HUNTING ACCIDENT

    Spirit's son Kyle, 8, was accidentally shot Nov. 14, 2001, during a hunting trip to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area near Kenansville.

    On a walk through the woods with sons Kyle and Josh, now 13, Spirit pointed out rust on the muzzle of his high-powered Browning rifle.

    The rifle fired, hitting Kyle in the head, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.

    Afterward, Spirit drove miles through the dense woods with Kyle in the back of the truck, looking for help, the office reported.

    "The jury would have probably found him guilty," Assistant Public Defender Don Waggoner said. "We couldn't offer them facts not to."

    It is illegal for felons to own firearms in Florida.

    Spirit was convicted in 1998 for felony possession of marijuana and never underwent procedures to restore his right to own a firearm, a charging affidavit states.

    Earlier in the morning, Circuit Judge Thomas W. Turner denied a motion filed by Waggoner to dismiss the case.

    KEEPING HIS OLD BIKES

    After the plea, Christine Spirit recalled how she used to call Kyle "sweet pumpkin pie." But by the time he became a toddler, he bristled at the name. He asked her to call him "AppleJax" instead.

    Now, Christine Spirit keeps a box filled with mementos of Kyle.

    They also kept bicycles Kyle bought for himself and his older brother with birthday money, as well as shoes and trinkets.


    She said she worries about how her family will hold up.

    "I don't know how you prepare for this," Christine Spirit said.

  5. #5
    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    I only see 5 kids, and in the first article, they only named 5 kids. Did she have 5 or 6???


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    Moderator bowieluva's Avatar
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    Are they sure he killed his son by accident?

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    fun hater Shins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Are they sure he killed his son by accident?
    Bet they're not so sure now.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Listen, if no one cares when a crazy noodle walks in and executes children with a gun, no one cares about anything.

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    Not an accident.

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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    I swear I've heard that story before. Or one similar. I remember hearing a while back of a father accidently shooting his son (pretty sure he was 8, that part sticks out to me) and he had to put him in his truck to drive for help because they were so far out in the boonies and there was no one around to help. But I think I remember he had set the gun down in the case and that's when it went off and accidently shot the boy? Maybe it was a different story.

    Now this is going to bug me all day.


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

  10. #10
    Administrator Olivia's Avatar
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    Has anyone found a FB for Sarah? I can't find one.

  11. #11
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    I'm guessing her fb is under something unrecognisable as a name. I found this though

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/stat...le2203558.html


    The Spirit family that child welfare investigators confronted two weeks ago presented a volatile mix: two drug-abusing adults, six small children and a history of violence. It exploded Thursday when Don Charles Spirit killed his daughter and six grandchildren one by one.

    The killing spree in tiny Bell, Florida, is believed to be the largest loss of life in a single family with a child welfare history ever in Florida. And records show authorities knew there were risks.

    On Sept. 1, Florida child protection investigators received a report on the youngsters over the Department of Children & Families’ abuse hotline. They were told that the children of Sarah Spirit, 28, were living with drug abusers. During the investigation that followed, Spirit told the agency she had just been released from jail after violating probation by testing positive for illegal substances. At the time, she was living with her father, a 51-year-old man with a record of violence who had once gone to prison for fatally shooting his son in a hunting accident.

    The probe of the hotline report was still open last week when Spirit shot his daughter and her six children — ages 11 years to 2 months — before turning a gun on himself as Gilchrist County Sheriff’s deputies arrived. A DCF report offered no details on its handling of the two-week-old hotline call.

    <<snipped>>

    On Monday, DCF administrators released records to the Miami Herald suggesting the family had a long history of failed child protection efforts. Allegations concerning Spirit’s parenting ran the gamut: drug abuse, medical neglect, poor supervision of her children, and domestic violence, including fights with her father. Don Spirit had a DCF history also, including an allegation of “the physical abuse of his grandchildren.” Don Spirit, DCF was told, “hit one of them with a belt, which resulted in bruising.”

    Sarah Spirit’s history with DCF dates to at least 2007, when the agency first offered her “voluntary” services in an effort to improve her parenting. The agency offered help to her two more times, in 2012 and the following year. “It does not appear that services were ever fully engaged in the latter year,” the latest incident report said. Don Spirit’s history with DCF included allegations that he physically abused both his children and grandchildren, as well as at least one report of domestic violence between him and his daughter.

    From 1990 to 1996, while Don Spirit was living in Hillsborough County, he was arrested and charged at least seven times with a mix of misdemeanors and felonies. The charges included battery, drug possession and depriving a child of food and shelter. In 2001, Spirit accidentally shot his 8-year-old son, Kyle, in the head during a hunting trip in Osceola County, killing him instantly. Spirit served a three-year sentence for felony firearms possession in the case, as he already had been convicted of marijuana possession and was barred from carrying a gun. His criminal history of 13 arrests also included aggravated battery, marijuana possession, larceny, and a hit-and-run with injury.

    Sarah Spirit’s history included arrests for larceny, shoplifting and drug possession. The two fathers of her six children both are incarcerated. In an effort to review its history with the family, DCF dispatched a “Critical Incident Rapid Response Team,” a triage unit created by lawmakers last spring as part of an overhaul of the state’s long-troubled child welfare system. The law was passed following the Herald’s publication of Innocents Lost, a series that studied the deaths of nearly 500 children whose families had been known to child protection workers.

    This is not the first time Florida has seen an entire family killed after a long history of domestic violence and some DCF involvement. Including the Spirit case, there have been at least three such sprees, all occurring in September.

    Four years ago this week, Patrick Dell forced himself into his estranged wife’s Riviera Beach home, fatally shooting her and four of her children. Killed were Bryan Barnett, 14; Daniel Barnett, 10; Diane Barnett, 13; and Javon Nelson, 10. Another Barnett boy was also shot but survived. Like Spirit, Dell shot and killed himself as police arrived. Dell had terrorized his wife, Natasha Whyte-Dell, for three years in fits of anger and jealousy, including threatening her with a knife. In the months leading up to the shooting deaths, Dell told her “your family is going to cry today,” and “you will be going to the morgue.” The family was dead nine months later.

    In September 2009, Mesac Damas allegedly killed his whole family after a decade-long history of beating his wife. Police discovered the bodies of Guerline, 32, and the five children — their throats all slit — in their North Naples home after she did not show up for work. The children killed were Meshack, 9; Maven, 6; Marven, 5; Megan, 3 and Morgan, 1. Damas has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder after initially fleeing to Haiti.

  12. #12
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    I had found her Facebook when this story originally broke, it might have been disappeared by now.

    I believe it used the pic of her in the original post as one of her main photos.

    edit: found it, https://www.facebook.com/sarah.spiri...f=ts&ref=br_tf

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    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Senior Member WooFrigginHoo's Avatar
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    http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gai...7046&fhid=6305


    Sarah Spirit, Kaleb Kuhlmann, Kylie Kuhlmann, Johnathon Kuhlmann, Destiny Stewart, Brandon Stewart, and Alanna Stewart
    Obituary



    Bell - The seven lives lost tragically on Thursday, September 18, 2014 in Bell, Florida will be remembered in a memorial service that will be open to the public at 5:00 P. M., in the Bell High School, with a candlelight vigil to follow at 7:30 P. M., also at the school. The funeral services will be held privately.

    Lost in this tragedy are Sarah Spirit, a loving mother, born on January 14, 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and living most of her life here in Florida. Sarah was preceded in death by her brother Kyle in 2001; Kaleb Mathew Kuhlmann, born on May 20, 2003, a student at Bell Elementary School, who loved playing baseball; Kylie Marie Kuhlmann, born on April 16, 2005, also a student at Bell Elementary School; Johnathon Neil Kuhlmann, born on March 19, 2006, a Bell Elementary student, who also loved playing baseball; Destiny Nicole Stewart, born September 27, 2009; Brandon James Stewart, born July 3, 2010; Alanna Brooke Stewart, born on June 22, 2014.

    Surviving family members are, Christine Jeffers, mother and grandmother; Frank Forgue, grandfather; Edward Kuhlmann, father; James Lawson Stewart, father; Walter Kuhlmann, grandfather; Deborah Kuhlmann, grandmother; Aletha Stewart, grandmother; Joyce Clarke, grandmother and great grandmother; Sarah Russell, great great grandmother; W. C. Douglas, great great grandfather; Inez Kuhlmann, great great grandmother; Joshua Spirit, brother and uncle.

    A memorial fund has been set up and donations may be made to the Bell Tragedy Fund, c/o Alarion Bank, 16404 NW 174th Drive, Alachua, Florida 32615.

    Please visit their memorial page at:
    www.williamsthomas
    funeralhome.com

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
    WILLIAMS-THOMAS WESTAREA
    (352) 376-7556

    - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gai....EKV2q4zP.dpuf





    My heart breaks for the grandmother.

  15. #15
    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    Ugh . Seeing the family photo and knowing they're ALL gone just is overwhelming
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



  16. #16
    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    The Department of Children and Families has revealed they were investigating Don Spirit for two weeks before he shot and killed his daughter and six grandchildren last week in Bell.

    A DCF spokesperson said someone called the abuse hotline Sept. 1, complaining adults were using drugs in front of the children.

    DCF said 28-year-old Sarah Spirit, the children’s mother, told investigators she had tested positive for drugs and was arrested for violating her probation.

    After she was released, Sarah told them she and the children went to live with her father Don in Bell.

    Officials have confirmed the father and daughter were the focus of several past abuse and neglect investigators.

    Don also served time in prison several years ago for possession of firearm by a convicted felon after killing his 8-year-old son in an accidental shooting in Osceola County in 2001.

    Meanwhile, no motive for killings has been released. However, officials have said the 51-year-old called 911 last Thursday warning he might hurt himself and others.

    Minutes later, investigators said he shot and killed his daughter and six grandchildren before killing himself.

    A news conference was scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, but has since been cancelled. Deputies said they will release a written statement around 9 a.m. Tuesday.http://www.mynews13.com/content/news...gated_don.html

  17. #17
    Senior Member bermstalker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bermstalker View Post
    Here's the transcript

    Dispatch: Gilchrest 911 what's the address of your emergency?

    Don Spirit: Yes, ma'am, I just shot my daughter and shot all my grandkids. And I'll be sitting on my step and when you get here I'm going to shoot myself.

    Dispatch: What is the address that you're at sir?

    Don Spirit: 2550 Northwest 29th Terrace, Don Spirit. Every one of them is dead.

    Dispatch: You said your name is Don Spirit?

    Don Spirit: Yep.

    Dispatch: Ok, Don, what kind of gun do you have?

    Don Spirit: It doesn't matter what kind of gun I got, they're all dead and when you get here I'll shoot myself. And then you figure out what kind of gun it is.

    Dispatch: And how long ago did this happen, Don?

    Don Spirit: I don't want to hear it, ma'am, you don't need to know every f….ing thing. Just bring the mother f…er's out here that's all. You've got all the kids are dead in the house.

    Dispatch: Ok, how many people?

    Don Spirit: Six kids, one adult.

    Dispatch: Six kids and one adult?

    Don Spirit: Yah, and one of them is a baby.

    Dispatch: All right, Don, is there any way you can stay on the phone until I can get someone there to help you?

    Don Spirit: What's that?

    Dispatch: Can I have you stay on the phone with me?

    Don Spirit: No, I'm not that, I'll wait for them to get here. When they get here I'm going to shoot myself on my back step. Alls I'm doing is waiting for them.

    Dispatch: So you're sitting on your back steps?

    Don Spirit: Yep.

    Dispatcher: (under breath) I need help!

    Dispatcher: Ok, Don, um, (silence)

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