A Florida mother fatally shot her mom and two children, then herself, after what she found on her husband’s phone

The investigation into the deaths of a Plant City mother, her own mother, and two of her young daughters has finally reached a conclusion. As reported by WFLA, Plant City Police Chief Richard Mills announced on Thursday that 27-year-old Hailey Megan Dempsey was responsible for the May 3 tragedy, which claimed the lives of her 55-year-old mother, her 4-month-old daughter, and her 4-year-old daughter. Hailey also attempted to shoot her 2-year-old daughter, but the child survived without physical injuries.

The violence followed an escalating series of events that began on May 1, when police were called to the family home due to a verbal argument between Hailey and her husband, Jay Dempsey. According to the chief, the conflict was sparked by pornography Hailey discovered on her husband’s phone.

Mills noted, “It wasn’t cheating or anything like that, evidently it was just porn, and they were having an argument over that. ” The situation grew more complex in the days leading up to the shootings. Police responded to the home three times in two days. On May 2, Hailey contacted authorities because she feared a tracking device had been placed on her vehicle, though officers found nothing.

What surveillance footage revealed about that morning

By May 3, the turmoil reached a breaking point. Investigators believe Hailey shot her mother inside their North Burton Street residence during the early morning hours. Afterward, she left the home on foot with her three daughters. Surveillance footage helped police reconstruct the morning, showing the family moving through various city streets.

Around 6:57 AM, a security camera recorded four gunshots. Although police were dispatched to the area after reports of gunfire, dense vegetation and a wooden fence initially hid the scene from officers. It wasn’t until 7:59 AM that a witness discovered the victims and heard a child crying. Officers arrived to find Hailey, her two daughters, and the surviving 2-year-old.

Hailey was transported to a hospital, where she eventually died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A similarly devastating case unfolded in Minnesota, where a man killed his wife and daughter before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a home where the family ran a daycare, a scene police said would stay with responding officers for their entire careers.

A significant portion of the three-month investigation focused on whether Jay Dempsey had any involvement. Detectives used digital evidence, license plate readers, and cellular data to track his movements, confirming he was driving on Interstate 4 at the time of the shootings. Mills explained that while they could confirm he wasn’t at the scene, the department needed to be absolutely certain before clearing him.

“Our responsibility as a law enforcement agency was to reach the correct conclusion and the truthful conclusion,” he stated. Evidence recovered during the probe provided a glimpse into Hailey’s mental state. Investigators found messages where she acknowledged feelings of paranoia and mentioned potential postpartum psychosis.

Just hours before the incident, however, she had sent a message expressing relief and feeling better.