Mindy Osteen (Bradford County Sheriff's Office)
A Florida woman is headed to prison for the rest of her life after fatally shooting the father of her children as he arrived to pick them up from daycare.
Mindy Osteen, 35, was sentenced to 100 years behind bars after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and several related charges stemming from the July 2025 attack.
According to police, Osteen shot Christopher Jones multiple times with a 9 mm handgun outside Auntie Lili’s Daycare in Starke, roughly 45 miles southwest of Jacksonville, telling him, “You got to die,” as she opened fire.
Her arrest report states she also said, “Please, let the monster die,” while shooting Jones. At least six children and two staff members were inside the daycare when the attack occurred that evening.
After the shooting, Osteen reportedly told Jones, “Chris, you can’t kill [redacted],” though it’s unclear who she was referring to — the names of the children involved were redacted from the report. Jones responded, “I’m not killing nobody.”
Investigators say witnesses saw Jones loading his children into car seats when Osteen approached him with an Arex Delta 9 mm pistol she had concealed in a backpack. Surveillance footage allegedly showed her lingering nearby before she began shooting.
The arrest report describes the moment in detail: “[Jones] puts the car seats in the back seat of his vehicle as Mindy follows and watches. Christopher is sitting in the driver’s seat with the driver’s door open.
Mindy walks directly up to Christopher and fires three shots as she backs up slightly. She then walks back up to Christopher and fires two more shots. Christopher can be heard screaming.”
When Bradford County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, Jones identified Osteen as the shooter before he was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Osteen did not deny involvement, telling deputies, “I’m right here y’all. I done it in self-defense.”
She was initially booked on charges including first-degree murder, cruelty to a child, weapon possession, and larceny. Under her plea deal, Osteen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm during school activities or within 1,000 feet of a school, shooting into an occupied vehicle or building, and grand theft of a firearm.
