Phoebe J John Chuck was born on August 22nd 2009 in Florida to parents Michelle care and John John Chuck Jr phei was a happy child with a free spirit who loved to pose for pictures she loved to sing dance and create artwork she liked to wear bright colors her favorites were pink and purple Phoebe enjoyed apple juice and Cheetos wearing sparkly pink sneakers reading books about dogs she loved rainbows butterflies puppy and cats Phoebe had long curly blonde hair green eyes and a smile that lit up the room Phoebe’s parents both came from

troubled backgrounds Michelle’s dad had abandoned his family when she was in kindergarten when she was just 16 years old Michelle’s mother passed away all that Michelle had left to remember her mother was a small wedding ring now Phoebe’s Father John came from an even more unstable home life his father John John chuk Senior was was an alcoholic who beat his mother and was arrested multiple times for DUI he left when John was just 3 years old Jon’s mother Michelle jonchuck worked at Dunkin Donuts but got caught stealing and was

busted for drugs she left when Jon was just 5 years old John was sent to live with his uncle Brian Morris and his partner Tim Maynard they gave him a necklace with a small gold cross on it JN proved to be a difficult child who got thrown out of multiple preschool schols kicked his dog and stuck screwdrivers into electrical outlets he threw such terrible fits that a counselor suggested he be wrapped up in a sheet like a straight jacket he was prescribed Aderall and riddlin but nothing really helped him one day Jon’s

father showed up to reclaim him he said he didn’t want two men raising his son and he was pretty vocal about it after that John lived with his father and stepmom in a duplex next to a junkyard in Tampa Florida CPS visit visited the home multiple times and Jon’s friends noticed bruises on his face when he was 12 Jon’s father told him to clean his room and John ended up losing it he attacked his father with soda cans pulled his hair and then finally grabbed a knife the police were called and johon admitted to pulling his dad’s hair but

only after his dad hit him he also admitted to making a stabbing motion with the knife the police report from this incident noted that John hates his father and hopes that he goes to hell this was only the first time in his life that JN was put in the back of a police car however it was decided that no treatment was needed for JN at the time at school Jon was known for being the smartest the funniest and the loudest he entertained other students and made homemade puppets and plays that he performed in the lunchroom he never

wanted to be at home and preferred to spend time at friends houses in eth grade Jon told everyone that he liked men he was teased for this but he seemed to enjoy the attention however he dropped out of school the next year his family had him committed to a psychor after he climbed onto the roof of his father’s duplex and because YouTube can’t handle us talking about this in a straightforward language attempted to remove himself from this Earth with a knife after his Hospital stay Jon went back to living with his uncle Brian and

Uncle Tim there he took online classes to try to earn his GED but proved to have have a volatile temper when he was caught playing video games instead of studying his uncle tried to take his computer away John retaliated by throwing the laptop over a balcony and smashing it to Pieces another time when he was so angry at Tim he coated the stairs with wax this led Tim to fall down the stairs and break three of his ribs according to his uncles Jon just watched and laughed later Brian described Jon as a monster and Tim

referred to him as pure evil at age 17 John moved out and began working at a strip club where he made a lot of money off of older men he also began using drugs heavily especially spice also known as K2 he then moved on to Crystal smoking so much that his fingertips were often charred from holding the glass pipe at age 18 Jon was first introduced to Michelle care she was 23 years old and already had a young son and a daughter the two would go to bars together putting on their makeup side by side in the mirror while singing

along to pop songs JN told her she was beautiful and then one night he basically said maybe I don’t like men because I’m in love with you the two developed a relationship bonding over their troubled lives Michelle told him how she’d been charged with neglecting her son when he was five because a babysitter didn’t pick him up from the bus stop she still had custody of her son while her daughter stayed with relatives John told Michelle about his father beating him and how he hated his mother for leaving he told her he was

bipolar but was on medication Michelle thought John was handsome but soon saw that he had two sides according to Michelle he was charming and then the devil came out on Valentine’s Day He slashed her tires in a fit of jealousy she said he’ll be as sweet as anything then go all Dr Jackal and Mr Hyde one day John was upset that Michelle was outside too long talking to a neighbor so he took her mother’s wedding ring and threw it out of a window because of him the last thing she had left from her late mother was lost

in the overgrown yard despite this they soon moved in together and they both enrolled in college classes where she took graphic design and he studied to be a pargal he asked her four times to marry him but she refused him every single time despite their rocky relationship Michelle did stay with him on August 22nd 2009 their daughter was born she was named Phoebe at after John’s Chihuahua Phoebe was a delightful and easygoing baby who was rarely fussy she loved being sung to and like to have someone stroke her arm while she fell

asleep her curly hair and round face seemed to work magic because John became a doting father he changed diapers warmed bottles and wanted to stay home with his feebs all of the time his uncle Brian said when Phoebe was born that changed him he stepped up more than he ever ever had Michelle planned to go back to work after her maternity leave but she started having problems with her leg she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and went on disability John tried to go back to work but didn’t seem able to hold down a

steady job he tried various money-making schemes including fake check printing and stealing other people’s credit cards he even sued the Cheesecake Factory for $250,000 after faking a fall although JN seemed to make a turnaround when Phoebe was born it was very short-lived when Phoebe was 10 months old the cops were called for a domestic issue JN had thrown Michelle to the floor and beat her legs however Michelle dropped the charges after Jon completed a DV program years later the cops were called again when Jon tried to choke

Michelle Phoebe who was 2 years old at this time locked herself in her parents’ bedroom until Jon kicked down the door to get her out the report from April 2012 stated Family Violence threatens child however this was changed to signs of present danger is low 5 days later because John and Michelle agreed to counseling B grew into a shy child it began going to from here to there daycare the owner Linda MOS described Phoebe as almost nonverbal she always Sat by herself for 30 to 45 minutes each day after being dropped off only then

would she come out of her shell to join and the other children Linda would take Phoebe to chuckecheese and even to her own backyard pool Linda’s teenage son Nick tried to teach Phoebe to swim but she was terrified of water she didn’t even like to take a bath despite her troubling home life Phoebe still seemed to be a happy toddler Jon’s mother Michelle jonchuck came back into their lives and finally sobered up Phoebe called this newly reacquired grandmother mama she sometimes Liv with John and Michelle’s family as they moved from

apartment to apartment although she developed a new leas on life Jon couldn’t forgive his mother for leaving him as a child if she tried to help him with parenting Phoebe John would fly off the handle and would say you didn’t raise me why do you want to raise my daughter the family’s life worsened with Jon erupting into rage every few months it is possible that the rejection he felt from both of his parents leaving him as a child translated to fear and resentment as an adult if he felt like he was being abandoned or rejected again

he would lose control John punched holes in walls and broke Windows when he was angry at his mother or Michelle it would continually run out of money or get evicted and John thought every place they lived in was possessed by evil spirit now throughout Phoebe’s toddler years John continued to abuse both his wife and mother Phoebe was there to witness Jon punch his mother in the face and drag her down the stairs by her feet she watched as John poured boiling coffee over Michelle tried to strangle her with Christmas lights and threw a

concrete block at her she was there witnessing JN chasing Michelle into a closet and stabbing the door with a knife when JN punched Michelle in the face and cracked her head against the bathtub Phoebe was there to witness it Jon was arrested for the bathroom incident but Michelle dropped the charges again however this time she decided she was done with him fin finally moved out fortunately when JN got out of jail he told the judge that Michelle had sliced him with a box cutter even though it was obvious that

Jon had inflicted the wounds himself despite the dubious nature of his claim and his prior arrest history John was able to get a restraining order against Michelle he got Phoebe’s share of Michelle’s benefits as well as Phoebe herself Michelle could not afford a lawyer and didn’t even get a notice about the court hearing as such she couldn’t contest the restraining order and she ended up not being able to see Phoebe for over a year in June of 2013 the Florida Department of Children and Families concluded and I quote there are

implications for child safety this is due to the family’s history of Prior reports and to the father’s history of CA and neglect a month after this JN was arrested for DUI and Michelle was arrested for theft the DCF noted the father interacts with Phoebe in a caring manner the case is being closed with verified findings for Family Violence threatens child now it was clear that the state was aware that Phoebe was in a dangerous situation but no actions were being taken John had been arrested seven times on family violence charges since

the age of 12 nevertheless the years of calls to police and child services amounted to nothing Phoebe never had a case worker that was involved enough to notice that her father was abusing her mother and grandmother they didn’t notice that was still using drugs and hallucinating they didn’t notice that Jon bounced Phoebe from place to place with her clothes in a trash bag when a DCF investigator visited Phoebe at her daycare she told the investigator that she missed her mommy although John had violent tendencies towards Michelle and

Mama he adored his daughter he painted her toenails taught her how to count trees and took her out for slushies that turned her mouth blue he brushed her long curly hair and let her win at Tic Tac Toe to he taught her the alphabet and how to write her name with a crayon when Phoebe was afraid of the dark he let her fall asleep watching Blues Clues John moved with Phoebe into a succession of different homes over the next year or so he never had money to pay the rent for their own place and he preferred the company of others anyway they Liv with

eight different friends or family members during that time including five different single moms it seems that they couldn’t turn away the little Phoebe so John was able to Weedle his way into their lives however Jon was still smoking crystal and wasn’t a very good house guest something would set him off and he would end up trashing the place one time he freaked out some friends when he was driving high on drugs and suddenly floored it to 100 mph however there was only one time anyone saw him get rough with Phoebe on that occasion

he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room after she asked for a fruit cup before dinner otherwise his rage was reserved for others each time A New Roommate had enough and kicked him out he’d leave behind broken furniture and piles of trash the only thing he ever took when he left was his own daughter for a while Phoebe did get to go live with John’s Uncle Brian and Uncle Tim while John slept at a friend’s house they had a big beautiful Victorian house with a koi pond and Phoebe got to enjoy taking Reese’s peanut butter cups

from a crystal candy dish Brian and Tim worried about Phoebe’s safety and even drafted up adoption paperwork to keep Phoebe however John had the same response that his own father had two decades earlier in 2014 Phoebe began attending kindergarten at Cleveland Elementary School she turned 5 2 days after school started John brought cupcakes for the class when he went to leave Phoebe hung on to his legs and cried her teacher Micah Oliver said it was the worst case of separation anxiety that she had ever seen Phoebe threw the

fits for a month until John snapped in front of the teacher and said why does it have to be this way after that Phoebe’s grandmother mama rearranged her work schedule so that way she was the only one to drop off Phoebe each day which made things easier soon Phoebe moved into her grandmother’s house while John crashed elsewhere that Autumn may have been the most stable time in Phoebe’s life she slept in her grandmother’s big double bed said her prayers and hugged her life-sized baby doll named Lucy mama would often wake

Phoebe in the morning by singing You Are My Sunshine Phoebe made friends at school and began to flourish she liked to tell jokes and told her teachers that she was going to grow up to be either a doctor or a dancer her teachers knew that her mom wasn’t around but believed she had a loving father and adoring grandmother to them there were no signs of neglect or abuse she wasn’t a child that teachers were worried about she was always clean knew how to share nicely and politely said please and thank you though Phoebe missed her mother she

clearly enjoyed her cozy life with Mama at one point Phoebe awoke screaming from a nightmare and told Mama I dreamt someone was taking me from you still Michelle continued to press Jon to let her see her daughter and John finally agreed John and Phoebe met Michelle and her new boyfriend for Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel it should have been a nice family dinner but when Phoebe asked if she could stay with her mother John refused in the month after Thanksgiving things worsened for John he lost two different jobs old friends

wouldn’t return his calls and now this Michelle was getting ready to be married and she wanted to see more of Phoebe seems likely that his old fears of Abandonment and rejection were rising to the surface leading to feelings of deep betrayal he ended up calling a hotline to accuse Michelle of abusing or neglecting Phoebe all while two other people called to report him for the same thing he started sending bizarre texts to a friend accusing shell of being a demon who needed God and saying that he was going to come kill her then John got

a letter about his Cheesecake Factory lawsuit asking for x-rays to prove the extent of his injuries another letter arrived from the Social Security office threatening to cut off the benefits he received for Phoebe with one rejection after another piling up for JN he began to spiral Phoebe and John spent Christmas Eve at Michelle’s house along with Mama Michelle’s new boyfriend and his son they enjoyed take out barbecue and John even said a prayer before they ate mama was happy with this latest detail relieved that John finally

believed in God John’s stepmother Mickey had an old family Bible it was written in Swedish and was over a hundred years old John started carrying around this huge old Bible evidently drawing some inspiration from the book on Christmas day he texted Michelle and said she didn’t have to worry about him keeping Phoebe from her anymore Phoebe received some wonderful presents from Mama that Christmas new bubbles a sparkly doll Play-Doh and a kit to make a scrapbook alas the nice holiday morning turned sour when John raged at

Mama screaming that she had never bought him presents like these after Christmas Jon again got hired for a new job this time with a telemarketing company the only jobs he had for months was working one day at a cafe before quitting and then part-time at Burger King his new boss didn’t know what to make of Jon’s erratic moods he said in one breath you could have the most educated conversation in the world with this guy and I’d be thinking I could take him to a board meeting then he’d flip and the devil would appear Jon soon got fired

but his boss took him back after John begged him for another chance meanwhile tensions between JN and Michelle grew even worse text message conversations grew more and more hostile Jon called her nasty names and threatened to pursue full custody for Phoebe again on December 29th Michelle called the DCF Hotline to report Jon for hitting Phoebe years earlier that he had no stable housing for Phoebe no one ever investigated this complaint and John called the next day to claim that Michelle was using drugs a drug test

proved his accusation to be false on New Year’s Eve JN filed for another restraining order claiming that Michelle’s new boyfriend had weapons in the house this request was denied meanwhile Phoebe enjoyed the evening with Phoebe’s Grand mother Mama watching the fireworks display put on by her two great uncles in the following week Jon was in an unusually humble mood texting multiple people to ask for forgiveness seemed he had burned too many bridges because no one replied to him he spent that Sunday at his mother’s house doing

yard work listening to her talk about how much she would like to keep Phoebe this set him off that evening he yanked Phoebe out of his mother’s bed and yelled you’re not taking my kid his mother was too startled to stop him and said later that if I’d tried to take her he’d have beaten me up John took Phoebe to his dad and stepmom’s house and Phoebe didn’t return to school for the next two days meanwhile Jon was at his dad’s house getting more and more obsessed with that ancient Swedish Bible he told his stepmom that Phoebe was a

demon and spread salt in the doorways throughout the house to ward off evil spirits when John went to work on Monday he kept rambling about the Bible he talked about Abraham and Isaac and about sacrificing a lamb his co-workers were concerned thinking that maybe he was on drugs or mentally unstable they talked about getting him help but knew that he might lose his daughter if he was checked in anywhere on his way home that evening JN said something cryptic to his co-workers he said I’m going to be fine I’ve got to walk that pyramid I just

hope when I get to the top I don’t have to do it I hope I don’t have to make that sacrifice I I hope someone stops me on Wednesday January 15th John brought Phoebe while he met with his lawyer Genevie Torres he was still trying to get custody of Phoebe so his attorney had drafted up the forms for him to sign Phoebe waited downstairs drawing a house with paper and crayons that a pargal brought to her John’s lawyer just needed him to sign the paperwork so they could move forward but she couldn’t get him to focus he kept rambling and waving his

hands around he brought the bible translated to Sweden which he put on the table he told Genevie to read it but the lawyer didn’t know the language he said to her you’re the Creator you can read any language he told her that he had an appointment with a priest in an hour because he wanted to get baptized she tried to get him back on topic he dismissed her with a chilling statement he said don’t worry about filing the paperwork none of this is going to matter tomorrow Genevie was understandably concerned by J’s Behavior

but wasn’t sure what to do about it she ultimately determined that this went beyond attorney client confidentiality she decided to call the police after she got him to leave on the way out John asked if he could leave Phoebe at the lawyer’s office while he was at his appointment with the priest geneveve considered it but worried that Phoebe would be scared or John might return and accuse her of kidnapping she also reasoned that Phoebe would be safe at a church as soon as John left with Phoebe Genevie had her pargal called the police

she told the dispatcher he’s crazy he’s nuts he’s out of his mind and he has a minor child with him driving to a church now and I should have kept the child the dispatcher asked if John wanted to harm himself Genevie replied no he kept saying I was God and he needed to get baptized and not to file anything because things are not going to matter anymore I don’t know if he’s on drugs or what I should have kept the child between about 11:00 a.m. and 300 p.m.

that day JN took Phoebe with him to four different churches across Tampa in his mission to get baptized the first church was the St Paul Catholic Church church he told the priest that he was possessed and asked him to do an exorcism he also asked him how many people had jumped off the Skyway Bridge the priest ultimately told him that there was a process to go through before getting baptized so John left outside there were two Hillsboro County sheriff’s deputies waiting to speak with him deputies Jessica halberg

khro and Aaron Rizzo asked Sean if he thought his lawyer was God he replied no but God spoke to me he told them that he had a new Clarity on life and that he used to be on 37 different medications during this interaction Phoebe was smiling while she held her father’s hands the deputies asked the priest if Jon seemed like a danger to himself or others and the priest said no he told them Jon was just feeling paranoid but he didn’t mention Jon’s exorcism request or the question about the Skyway when the officers left the

report said this of John he did not exhibit any signs of mental illness the little girl appeared happy and waved at me when she was leaving with her dad John then drove across town to a different Catholic Church before picking up his stepmom and returning again to the first church he again demanded to be baptized immediately but the priest refused it was about 1:00 p.m.

 at this point John then went to a Methodist Church nearby and met with the receptionist there the receptionist remembered Phoebe skipping on her way in she gave Phoebe a lollipop and Phoebe waited with John’s stepmom while John inquired about a baptism he showed the receptionist his oversized Swedish Bible he said that he was related to the pope but that the Catholic Church would not baptize him the receptionist gave him the email for the minister to contact that seemed to work because John grabbed his Bible and left with Phoebe meanwhile

J’s lawyer Genevie heard back from the sheriff’s deputies who told her they didn’t think Jon was a danger to himself or others around 2: p.m. Jon started calling her office repeatedly he called eight times over the next hour ranting and insisting that Phoebe wasn’t really his daughter realizing that the police weren’t able to help Genevie called the DCF Hotline and spoke to a counselor for 18 minutes she explained how John was obsessed with the Swedish Bible thought she was God and was claiming that Phoebe was not his child during this

conversation John called again and spoke to repair illegal he said he was back at his dad’s house and everything was fine Genevie relayed this info to the counselor who put her on hold she came back she said based on the information provided unfortunately it doesn’t rise to the level of Florida statutes for us to be able to accept the report at this time now whether or not you feel this response is by the book based on Florida’s laws you have to admit it is infuriating I can’t even begin to comprehend the level of helplessness

that Genevie felt in this moment after witnessing behavior from somebody clearly not mentally fit to have a child in his care however Genevie kept insisting desperate to get some sort of further action from the counselor but this counselor had only been on the job 6 months and she told Genevie that it sounded to her like Jon had support from other adults in the end the report was closed at 3:25 p.m.

 John and Phoebe stayed at his stepdad’s house that afternoon and evening suddenly calm everything seemed fine and they all watched TV on the couch at 8:00 p.m. mama got up to leave and said she’d take Phoebe with her so that she could drop Phoebe off at school the next day it had now been 3 days of school that Phoebe had missed John promised to bring her to school the next day and Phoebe wanted to stay with him Mama went home by herself but shortly afterwards John called and said he wasn’t feeling well he asked if Phoebe could come over after all but

mama had told him that she had just gone to bed at around 9:30 that night John began texting his friend Nomi he told her that they belong together and ranted about sea salt in the Bible he also said he asked a priest how many people had jumped off the Skyway Nomi was Disturbed and didn’t reply to his texts at around 10 p.m.

 John’s dad and stepmom heard John leave the house and drive away they assumed he was taking Phoebe to her grandmother’s house and went back to bed in reality John had packed up all of Phoebe’s Christmas presents into trash bags and stabed them in his car which was a white PT Cruiser he made her wear the gold cross that he had gotten from his uncles when he was a kid he drove them to Nom’s apartment complex and pounded on her door Nomi hid thinking he’d come to kill her and her son a neighbor saw him pacing around the parking lot and noticed that Phoebe

didn’t have any shoes on and wasn’t wearing a coat shortly after someone called the police to report that a white PT Cruiser was driving 100 m an hour down the highway headed south John sped down the interstate Crossing into the City of St Petersburg he suddenly slammed on The Brak so hard that he left smoking skid marks Sergeant William Drew Vickers of the St Petersburg Police Department was off duty and headed home that night but he happened to see the PT Cruiser jam on its brakes he decided to follow the car as It sped towards the

Skyway just after midnight on January 8th 2015 Sergeant vicker’s radio dispatched to give them the plate number but didn’t turn on his lights or siren he told dispatch that he was following a white PT Cruiser traveling at a high rate of speed down 275 southbound he followed the speeding car out of St Petersburg and onto the dick Meer bridge that goes over lower Tampa Bay while Sergeant Vickers was still talking to dispatch Jon’s vehicle suddenly slowed down swerv to the right and stopped on the shoulder of the bridge Jon got out

of the car wearing his plaid pajamas and carrying that huge Swedish Bible Sergeant Vickers yelled at him to get back in the car but JN kept walking back toward him Jon shouted you have no Free Will and then walked to the rear passenger side of the pey cruiser opening the door Sergeant Vickers drew his Glock pistol and yelled let me see your hands JN emerged from the car holding a young girl Sergeant Vickers saw her long honey-colored curls she pressed her face into her father’s shoulder he thought he saw her stretched

like she was just waking up John calmly walked to the edge of the bridge holding eye contact with the officer pointing a gun at him without looking away he reached the concrete railing and suddenly threw Phoebe over the side Sergeant Vickers thought he heard a scream and then heard a splash as Phoebe Hit The Frigid ocean wat 62 ft below JN didn’t even look to watch his daughter fall he simply walked back to his car while Sergeant Vickers yelled Into His Radio he just dropped his kid over the railing into the water he’s fleeing

South to the toll plaza give me rescue I’m right right on the interstate the kids in the water Sergeant Vickers ran to the edge of the bridge and tried in vain to see down into the dark water below he saw a service ladder nearby and climb down other officers arrived while Vickers reached the bottom and searched frantically with his flashlight for any sign of the little girl it was a cold night only 42° the 25 mph wind meanwhile JN had sped away down 275 First South but then he pulled a U-turn and started back up

the wrong side of 75 he nearly hit a police cruiser and was finally stopped with Spike sticks he ignored demands to get out of the vehicle so the driver side window was smashed and he was pulled out through the broken glass of the pavement where he was placed under arrest rescue professionals and volunteers were swiftly deployed to search for Phoebe everyone knew there was a slim chance that Phoebe had survived the fall in the freezing water Spotlight swept across the water while helicopters circled overhead tide

patterns and currents were put into a computer to try to guess which direction Phoebe might have been swept in the choppy water under the bridge finally Phoebe’s pale face was spotted in the dark current framed by her long hair she’d been swept under the bridge by the current and pulled nearly a mile to the southeast the student search and rescue team that spotted her pulled Phoebe’s cold body from the water into their boat they attempted CPR and tried to revive her with warm blankets and Ivy fluids but she was already gone Phoebe who

feared water so much she didn’t even want to take a bath had been in the water an hour and a half before she was found in an interrogation room at the sheriff’s department John said to the deputies my name is God and you shall address me as such I command you to take me to the city of Babylon now he then said he was the pope K he wanted his Bible and that this was all a conspiracy he didn’t want to be left alone in the room and told the officers that for the last few weeks he had been feeling different at some point during the

interview John asked is Phoebe okay the officers asked who Phoebe was and John’s replied Phoebe was my daughter Phoebe J jonchuck note the past tense Phoebe was his daughter I went looking for answers I’ve always had problems growing up like wondering who I was and how and what my purpose was and ever since yesterday and a couple days before like what problems how do you think you’re different well um it’s like I don’t know like I when I went to the Church uh today Church uh St Paul’s Catholic church and I spoke to

Father Bill um he told me that I wasn’t going to be ready this Easter but next Easter and that I was the pope um that uh Francis or whatever is not um is not like he’s not the real Pope yes and uh my grandma’s name and I do have Greek Heritage believe it or not um my grandma’s main name is Vladimir um and it’s always been weird and I’ve had people coming up to me recently and asking me what my name is and I’ve only been able to say John um prior to this weeks prior to this like and they would ask me what my last name is and I would just say

John but you just physically couldn’t say your last name or John John Chuck or is just John it was just John for some reason and it’s like I really had to kind of think about it for a minute then that’s just been going on this past week yeah how about the island crew you like working there you said it’s a Jamaican restaurant I kind of felt uncomfortable uncomfortable mhm how so I mean it’s a job how do you know all this stuff you told me when I was asking you what your name was and what your you said that you worked at Island crew and that it was a

Jamaican restaurant like a cafe that’s how you put it well I did but I felt like he was dishonest um and who’s that uh the owner like he was I don’t know no he said you’re is the owner that was being dishonest what made you think he was being dishonest he was going to different restaurants mhm and and he was going to different restaurants and working there to find out their main dishes and then putting it on his menu really so we go to a different restaurants find out with their I guess signature dish or the main dish is on

their menu and bring it back to your the restaurant that you worked at yes I could see how that would be dishonest is Phoebe okay Phoebe who’s that B was my daughter b j John

Chuck is she okay I don’t know John I haven’t heard I’ve been here watching and talking talking over you they’re talking with you at the end of the interrogation report the officer noted I observe there to be no remorse or regret for what he allegedly did the only time he showed any emotion was when he asked me if Phoebe was all right when he asked me that he put his head down into his hand and began to shake his head back and forth despite Jon’s strange behavior and appearance a drug test was not administered when he was taken to pellis

County Jail the deputies checked off no on the format for indications of drug or alcohol influence or mental health issues Phoebe’s death shocked the community around Tampa Bay so many people had seen her with her father on that final afternoon or in the weeks and months leading up to her death Phoebe’s relatives wondered if they could have pushed harder to get her away from John sooner her kindergarten teacher wondered if she should have known that something was wrong sor Sergeant Vickers wondered if he could have handled the interaction

with Jon on the bridge differently to save Phoebe’s life Jon’s lawyer Genevie wondered how things would have been different if she had kept Phoebe in her office that day Phoebe’s grandmother mama blamed herself first for abandoning Jon as a child then doting so heavily on Phoebe wondering if this could have triggered Jon’s resentfulness and jealousy she said what if I killed her because I loved her too much authorities had been called out of con concern for Phoebe seven different times in her short life but none of that made a

difference the disputes between Phoebe’s parents garnered so many reports to DCF that they weren’t taken seriously Phoebe’s death helped bring attention to Serious flaws in the system the very next day after Phoebe’s death changes were made to address the way in which hotline counselors handled calls if the caregiver was believed to be experiencing a psychotic episode like JN was reported to have been and officials were now required to respond within 4 hours to check on the child in just one year after that change more than 900

calls had been forwarded to investigators at least one baby had been saved because of these changes an autopsy was performed on Phoebe’s small body it was determined that she was alive before she entered the water the fall from the bridge to the water would have lasted 2 seconds before she hit the water at about 60 MPH the water temperature that night was 67° with an air temperature of 42° by the time she was found her body temperature had dropped to 44.

6 De the attempts to revive her with the warm blankets in an ivy brought her body temperature back up to 75° before she was declared dead she had huge bruises on her back jaw and lip from the impact with the water she had a layer of blood on her brain scrapes near her ear and Ankle and frothy fluid in her lungs the cause of death was determined to be drowning with hypothermia as a contributing condition the manner of death was ruled a homicide John jonchuck was charged with first-degree homicide and held without bond at his first court

appearance panel’s County Judge Michael Andrews asked him if he wanted an attorney John replied I want to leave it in the hands of God the judge responded I’m pretty sure God’s not going to be representing you in this case you’re going to be standing trial John pled not guilty by reason of insanity for years after Phoebe’s death the defense and prosecution went back and forth on whether or not Jon was mentally stable enough to stand trial he had psychiatric evaluations and eventually he was declared competent enough to stand trial

Jon’s trial was held in early 2019 and lasted a month during his trial the defense argued that Jon was insane at the time of The Killing he was driven by imagined voices and delusions and was unaware that what he was doing was wrong however experts testified that while Jon did indeed suffer from delusions and mental illness was not the driving force behind his decision to kill Phoebe prosecutors argued that Jon was acting out of Vengeance killing Phoebe so her mother could never get custody of her because he was resentful that his own

mother loved the little girl more than she had ever loved him on April 16th the jury found him guilty of first degree homicide he was sentenced to life in prison John’s mother ph’s grandmother mama said after the trial I want to tell him I love him because he’s my son when it comes to what he’s done I hate him he took my sunshine away phoe’s funeral was held on January 14th 2015 at the Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church about 150 people gathered to say goodbye to the little girl whose life had been cut so tragically short there were yellow

and purple roses and pink balloons the sermon focused on messages of forgiveness and the MERS were bright colors instead of black to honor phoe’s Sunny personality her mother Michelle wore a multicolored sundress while her grandmother mama carried Phoebe’s precious baby doll Lucy her tiny casket was covered in flowers and pink tulle and a smiling baby doll and a stuffed animal were placed next to her small body mama said of Phoebe every time I see a rainbow I will think of you after the ceremony four apall bearers carried

her casket to a waiting hearse a caravan led by three Hillsboro County Sheriff’s Cruisers With Sirens blaring rolled a mile away to Lake Carroll Cemetery a local Funeral Home covered the cost of her burial she was buried in a sliver of ground between her two grandparents her gravestone reads Phoebe J John chuk August 22nd 2009 to Jan January 8th 2015 Mama’s princess angel forever in our hearts the community continued to remember Phoebe a memorial with flowers teddy bears and white crosses appeared on the bridge there were Facebook pages

dedicated to her memory a 5K race in her honor and local students raised money to sponsor a service dog that now Bears her name petition was started to rename the bridge in her honor each year a memorial motorcycle ride in flower drop is held to raise money for a scholarship fund created in Phoebe’s memory the scholarship is awarded to a student at St Petersburg College who is studying social services Mama kept Phoebe’s favorite life-size baby doll Lucy which Phoebe used to hug while snuggled in her double bed now her grandmother kisses the doll

every night before tucking it into bed like she used to do with Phoebe a year after her death Phoebe’s mother Michelle was interviewed to reflect on the loss of her daughter still living with Ms Michelle was learning to cope but her heart was still breaking for her little girl Michelle found the manner of Phoebe’s death particularly cruel because Phoebe could not swim and was terrified of the water she said why that way why anyway Michelle also shared the morning ritual she does to remember her daughter she wakes up in time to watch

the sunrise and turns on Phoebe’s favorite song good morning sunshine