'Evil' mom's social post before day care killing shows intent: Sheriff

(NewsNation) — Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith believes "evil" came to Starke, Florida, last Friday when Christopher Jones was fatally shot while picking his children up from day care.

The woman accused of killing the man is the mother of the children, Mindy Osteen.

Osteen and Jones’ kids were in the back seat of the car when she began shooting, putting them in harm’s way. She claims she shot Jones in self-defense.

Smith told "Banfield" on Thursday that the children were strapped in their car seats during and after the shooting.

"Pure evil came to town that day in our community, a lady, if you want to call her a lady, I've got better names for it, but probably not appropriate to what she's done," Smith said.

After reviewing surveillance tapes, the sheriff tells NewsNation that Jones was "cordial" with the mother of his children while picking up his kids and got into the driver's side of his truck before being shot several times.

"She pulls a handgun, leans in the vehicle and just instantaneously fires off three rounds inside that vehicle, takes like a stutter step back ... and then she eases back in and fires off two more rounds from that semi-automatic weapon," Smith said.

According to the sheriff, his team found a social media post from months ago wherein Jones was wearing a suit and Osteen commented, "You bought that suit for your funeral." 

"It leads you to believe that she'd been planning this for some time," Smith said.