Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Murder of Samantha Keithley


Kirk Keithley (39) shot and murdered his wife Samantha Keithley (33) before turning the gun on himself on September 23rd, 2018. The couple lived in Land O’Lakes, Florida where Kirk worked as a Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy. On the night of the murder-suicide, the couple had allegedly been fighting for hours. Around 11:50pm, Samantha sent the above texts to her friend describing their fight.

Shortly after midnight—just minutes later—the police received a phone call from Samantha’s 14 year-old son. He told dispatchers, “Oh my god, my stepdad just shot my mom in the head. Please help me.” When asked for more details, he explained, “My stepdad and mom had been arguing for a night and she went to a hotel and she came back and I heard them arguing and I heard a gunshot and I walked outside and I saw her, she was bloody, and I saw her dead.” Once police officers arrived on the scene, they found both Samantha and Keith dead in their bedroom. The 14 year-old boy and the other three children in the home were fortunately not harmed.

At this time, it is unclear how Kirk and Samantha’s argument escalated to violence. Samantha’s friend Kristin Kellin, the recipient of the above texts, is reportedly shocked by Kirk’s actions. She told reporters, “Kirk was a quiet guy, but he wasn’t irrational. Everybody has problems, but not anything that would cause him to shoot her in the head. He was a very quiet person. I can’t believe he did this.” The Pasco County sheriff’s office is still investigating the case.

1 comment:

  1. It’s very difficult to read such articles because there is a lot of grief and negative emotions in them which then do not give you the opportunity to live in peace for a very long time.

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