Photo: Getty
Chesterfield County Police Department (CCPD) received a call from victim JoAnna M. Cottle, 39, at around 5 a.m. local time toreport a suspicious person outside her home, when police heard shots fired over the phone line, according to NBC 12.
“She remained on the line with usas the intruder made entry,” said CCPD’s Chris Hensley, according to theRichmond Times-Dispatch. “There was gunfire and then silence. But our officers were on the way and immediately made entry. The suspect obviously was not there. But of course they found the four victims, all deceased.”
In addition to JoAnna, her children — Kaelyn M. Parson, 13, and 4-year-old twins Kinsey M. Cottle and Jayson L. Cottle —were pronounced dead at the scene, per police.
Police car.Getty
CCPD detectives later obtained an arrest warrant for Jonah L. Adams, 35, on four counts of first-degree murder. Adams, who is Kinsey and Jayson’s father, was previously in a relationship with JoAnna, authorities said.
It is not immediately clear if Adams has a legal representative to comment on his behalf.
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Although no direct motive was immediately clear, Hensley told theTimes-Dispatchthat “there were hints of a turbulent relationship” between the co-parents, citing interviews with family and friends.
“There was a previous protective order [involving the former couple] — not in effect now — that we identified,” Hensley said. He also noted that there was conflict over their two children, but he wasn’t sure if it was “a custody dispute or a disagreement.”
According to NBC 12, CCPD’s Major Mike Louth said: “In a situation like this that we have children that were involved, many of us are parents, and that’s a difficult day for us. No way to minimize that one, so it’s tough for everyone involved.”
source: people.com
