Mindy Osteen killed Christopher Jones in front of their two young sons after years of abuse. Jones was a man, and his sister Melanie Russo says law enforcement ignored him because of that fact.
On July 25, 2025, Jones, 37, died at Auntie Lili’s Child Care Center in Starke, Florida. Osteen approached with a backpack and shot Jones while he gathered his two sons from daycare. The boys screamed for help as their father pleaded for assistance, their cries recorded by the surveillance camera.
The Attack At The Daycare
Months before the shooting, Jones had left Osteen. That morning, she went after him to the daycare. Once the children embraced their mother, Osteen reached into her bag for a weapon and began firing. Jones barely made it out of the vehicle and raced toward the building, yet found herself caught between the outside entrance and a secured inner security door. Osteen came after her.
Russo said Osteen continued stalking, threatening and physically attacking Jones after the separation. Jones sought help, but the warnings went nowhere. “Every incident was reported. Authorities were notified. Nothing was done,” she said. “Nobody took it seriously,” she added, calling it “devastating because of how it ended.”
Years Of Abuse
Jones’s history involved serious offences tied to illegal substances, yet his bond with Osteen remained untouched. He bore months of domestic violence, and his family contends that authorities turned a blind eye to his reports due to his gender.
The family said Jones worked every day to provide for the boys and become someone they could admire. “Chris was a devoted father to two sweet boys who were the light of his life,” his obituary read. His love for them was described as “the driving force behind his transformation.” A fundraiser organized by Russo called his final years a “journey of redemption, love, and unwavering devotion to his children.”
A History Of Trouble
Law enforcement had a long record of contact with Osteen. Local reporting uncovered arrests tied to her relationships going back at least 2013, with accusations covering battery, fraud, drug possession and unlawful manufacture of stimulants. According to records, the charges from those cases were either declined, dismissed or remained unresolved.
A 2017 arrest in Alachua County involved resisting an officer violently. A 2018 Bradford County arrest involved fraud. By the time of Jones’ homicide, she was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a prior felony conviction.
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office documented a violent confrontation involving Jones and Osteen in April 2024. The agency later referred to it as the last such encounter before the incident. Charges were filed against both individuals, though they were subsequently dismissed. No court ruling ever established which of the two had been the aggressor during that specific event. Jones’ family, however, remained convinced.
Six to eight months before his death, Russo said she decided to separate from her brother after he showed serious instability, while describing her brother as enduring “a lot of domestic ab*se on his end as far as verbal, physical, mental, emotional, everything,”.
Timeline Of Key Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Separation begins | Roughly late 2024 or early 2025 |
| Final violent encounter recorded | April 2024 |
| Shooting at daycare | July 25, 2025 |
Russo spoke out publicly about the case, saying men can be victims too. “People wanna stand up and speak for women all the time,” she said. “Men can be victims too. Men can be victims too, and I saw it with my own two eyes. I saw him live through it.”
Jones’ family wonders if anyone will ever treat his case with real seriousness. “Nobody took it seriously,” That is the whole tragedy of it, Russo said.
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