On June 24, 2023, 23-year-old John A. Pennigsdorf Jr. was fatally shot outside his home on State Road 100 in Keystone Heights, Florida. Deputies found John in the driveway with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. His 21-year-old sister, Charity Pennigsdorf, was shot inside the house and taken to a local hospital with critical injuries.

Investigators identified 23-year-old John Jacob Thornton as the suspect after Charity named him as her estranged boyfriend. Thornton allegedly arrived uninvited, was told to leave, attempted to re-enter the home, produced a shotgun and shot both siblings, then fled. He was located by Bradford County deputies as he entered their county from Union County and was booked into the Clay County Jail on second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder charges.

John was remembered as a beloved son, brother, father and friend who enjoyed fishing, camping and outdoor work in concrete and landscaping. He is survived by his mother Casandra Cis, stepfather Jeremy Chirico, his children Zaiden Pennigsdorf and Aurora Bond, several siblings and his girlfriend Victoria Nettles. Did anyone in the Keystone Heights area see or hear anything that night that could help clarify what happened?