Deputy fired, videos released in Seminole County murder-suicide

Man stabs, runs over wife, shoots, kills children, then himself

SANFORD, Fla. – A Seminole County sheriff's deputy has been fired in the wake of a murder-suicide that left a family dead because the deputy didn't file a report of domestic violence related to the case nine days before the fatal incident.

[WATCH:  Dash cam shows moments before vehicle hits woman, Good Samaritans | Body cam shows hospital shootout | Part II | Full injunction video | MORE: Good Samaritan run over trying to help]        MORE: Seminole County investigation into Henry Brown 

Deputy Chad Tavenner was fired Tuesday for failing to file a report, find probable cause or make an arrest in two incidents connected with Henry Brown, who had violated a court injunction by contacting his estranged wife, Chericia.

Chericia Brown called 911 on April 8, saying that Henry Brown arrived at a KinderCare, took the spark plugs out of her car and followed her. Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said that Tavenner failed to file a report that night. Tavenner was later dispatched to a car driven by a man who looked like Henry Brown but failed to investigate that incident, too, Eslinger said.

[LEARN HOW TO HELP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS BY WATCHING VIDEO BELOW]

Eslinger said Tavenner violated the Sheriff's Office policy and was issued a capias on charges of violating state law, but the state attorney declined to prosecute Tavenner after they say Tavenner's responses were too vague and ambiguous to the point where they couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he broke the law. 

"He is not one of our members," Eslinger said. "He does not belong in our department."

Tavenner was hired in April 2015 after working at the DeLand Police Department.

Eslinger said since the tragedy there have been more calls reporting stalking and domestic violence into their domestic violence unit, which consists of four investigators solely dedicated to investigate domestic violence calls.

However, in this case, the call made by Chericia to police on April 8, never made it to their unit, because Tavenner never made a report.

"He violated public trust but more harmful to me is violated Mrs. Brown's trust," Eslinger said.

The murder-suicide started April 17 outside the Lake Mary Chili's restaurant when Brown, 30, stabbed his estranged wife 15 times before returning and running over his wife and two good Samaritans who were trying to help her, according to authorities.

The Sheriff's Office on Thursday released dash-cam video that shows the moments before the trio was struck.

Detectives said that after running over the three, Brown picked up his two children, got into a shootout with deputies at a hospital and led authorities on a chase on I-4, where his vehicle was stopped. Officials said they found Brown and his two children dead in his vehicle.

Authorities also released body-cam video that shows the shootout at the hospital.

Chericia Brown accused her husband of previously attacking her, and she attended a domestic violence seminar and was granted an injunction for protection against him. However, the state attorney's office said on February 10 that no criminal charges would be filed against Henry Brown, according to police. 

[HOW TO GET HELP:  Harbor House of Central Florida]

News 6 asked domestic violence advocate and Harbor House representative Tekoa Pouerie how does the community, specifically victims of domestic violence, learn to trust law enforcement after something like this.

"I don't want the women of Central Florida to lose hope," Poueire said. "When I see those children, it's a very sad situation, but there is also  glimmer of hope and the hope is someone is going to watch this and say I don't want my life to end like that, let me reach out as many times."

She says the hope comes from the fact that more people are talking about it and in turn getting results for their own lives and getting out a violent relationship.

 

If you are in a domestic violent relationship, you can call Harbor House 24-hour confidential crisis hotline at 407-886-2856.

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