Records show 5 calls for service to slain parents home; sister says he is not… | Latest Lifestyle News
As the Clay County community and even the country try to understand why a 14-year-old boy would kill his parents in what many have said was a loving household, Sheriff’s Office records show five other calls for service to the family’s Middleburg home while living there since 2021.
The most recent was for a follow-up investigation on April 27 and also included a suicide threat by the then 10-year-old on March 24, 2021. The others were for “one sick or down” on March 21 and April 5 of 2024 and a disturbance on July 8, 2022.
The calls for service did not generate incident reports for any of the calls other than computer-aided dispatch communication. For the suicide threat, it stated “Trevor,” who went to McRae Elementary, was going to cut his throat. His active-duty Navy father said he scheduled a psychiatric appointment for him. The disturbance report said the father held a female against her will and wouldn’t give her items back and made some redacted references to not wanting to go back “to the naval base because ‘she is going to embarrass both of us.'”
The arrest report for Trevor Eugene Lee, who Sheriff Michelle Cook said was charged with two counts of second-degree murder during her Aug. 4 news briefing, was heavily blacked out and did not reveal what led up to the shooting. His newly released 911 call also was so redacted that the motive remained unclear.
Cook said it stemmed from a domestic argument the night before but did not elaborate. She said the 14-year-old then called 911 shortly after midnight telling the dispatcher he shot his parents and where deputies could find them at their home and that he walked to a nearby church where he was waiting.
Deputies found 44-year-old David Kevin Lee and 45-year-old Brandi Lashall Smith dead from multiple gunshot wounds in their bedroom and the boy at the Cross Pointe Church where he was taken into custody without incident, the newly released arrest report said. The teen also said he left the firearm, which Cook said is believed to belong to the couple, at the home where it was recovered. No one else was there at the time.
David Lee and Brandi Smith
“This is an active and ongoing investigation. Detectives are working diligently to gather evidence and determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Clay County court records don’t show any red flags about the family, who rented the home on Silver Point near County Road 220. The couple had some traffic tickets but nothing criminal.
What did Trevor Lee say in his 911 call?
Lee was on the phone with 911 for 21 minutes and 49 seconds. Here’s some of the dialogue that was made public.
He tells the dispatcher, “I’m by the road, I threw my backpack away from me, I’m stripped. I’m waiting for police.”
“What do you mean you’re stripped,” she asks.
“I emptied my pockets and everything. There’s nothing in my pockets,” he says.
A short time later he tells her, “I’m gonna pray first. I need to pray.”
“You need to pray?” she asks.
“Yes, ma’am,” he politely responds.
“Before you pray, you need to tell me exactly where you’re at,” the dispatcher advises.
“Ma’am, can you pray?” it sounds like he says.
“Go ahead I’ll listen to you,” she says, misunderstanding him.
“I was going to ask if you could pray for me, ma’am,” he clarifies.
“I’ll definitely be praying for you, son,” she assures him.
Much of the rest of the call that’s not redacted is them waiting for deputies to arrive and her asking if he sees them and advising him to tell them what happened and to keep his hands up.
What did Trevor Lees sister say about what happened?
Action News Jax spoke with Lee’s sister who lives in California, Ayanna Russell. Obviously shocked, she said their family dynamic was normal when she lived with them.
“We joked around with each other,” Russell said. “We played a lot, we played video games with each other. We went to the movies. We were your regular family, no issues at all whatsoever.”
She said her brother was a good kid, “a bright young man” with lots of friends. She said she wasn’t aware of any issues between her brother and parents and had no idea about the argument.
Russell said she still loves him despite the “huge” mistake he made.
“My little brother, he is not a monster,” his sister said.
What did Trevor Lees best friend say?
Best friend Kyree Beamon said they went to Lakeside Junior High School together and were about to start Fleming Island High School. Beamon’s mother posted photos of them playing football together and of the two wearing red T-shirts with an American flag on them and Lee’s stating “American made.”
Beamon told First Coast News he last spoke with hm around midnight, six hours before police responded to the shooting.
“He told me he loved me and he told me he was calling to say goodnight,” he said. “Trevor isn’t a bad person, he made some bad mistakes and he’ll suffer the consequences for it, but that’s not all he was. I don’t want him to be known as a killer or murderer. He was a great kid, great son and great brother.”
Beamon also talked about what kind of people Lee’s parents were.
“They were the best or one of the best families I knew,” he told FCN. “They were funny and they treated me well. They told me they loved me like a son and they treated me as such.”
(This story has been updated with some new details from the 911 call.)
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Clay County records show service calls to home where boy shot parents
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