Christopher Travis Jones, 37, a male from Starke, Florida — White/Caucasian — arrived at Auntie Lili’s Daycare on West Washington Street on July 25, 2025, to pick up his children when gunfire erupted outside the center. Witnesses reported multiple shots, and responding deputies with the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office found Christopher Travis Jones, 37, gravely wounded in the parking area near the daycare and close to Bradford County High School.
Emergency crews attempted lifesaving measures, and he was transported to a hospital, where Christopher Travis Jones, 37, was pronounced dead.
As first responders worked the scene, investigators quickly identified a suspect: Mindy Michelle Osteen, 34, the mother of the children. According to an arrest report and accounts later described by police and media, surveillance video showed Osteen arriving at the daycare within minutes of Christopher Travis Jones, 37. In the moments after the shooting, Christopher Travis Jones, 37, identified Osteen as the shooter before dying at the hospital; Osteen, still at the scene, approached deputies and declared, “I’m right here y’all. I done it in self-defense.” Detectives also documented a chilling statement attributed to Osteen — “You got to die” — shouted at the victim during the attack.
The investigation quickly turned to motive and evidence. Authorities recovered the handgun believed to have been used, and Osteen was taken into custody. She was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, along with additional counts that included aggravated child abuse and weapons offenses, reflecting that the shooting unfolded in front of children at the daycare. Reporting indicated that both parents had arrived to retrieve the children when the confrontation occurred, and that Osteen fired multiple rounds at close range.
News coverage described how the scene erupted just before 6 p.m., drawing in multiple emergency calls about shots fired near the high school and the daycare. In the days that followed, memorials and obituaries for Christopher Travis Jones, 37, portrayed him as a devoted father whose life was cut short in a sudden burst of violence outside a place meant for safety and routine. The homicide remains anchored by the swift arrest of a single suspect, with no indication of additional suspects sought by law enforcement.
