Mother Kills Son And Daughter For Being 'Mouthy'

TAMPA, Fla. — The woman who authorities say killed her teenage daughter and son because she was fed up with them talking back and being mouthy did not appear in court Saturday because she was being treated at a hospital for an unknown condition.

Authorities say Julie Powers Schenecker was taken to Tampa General Hospital shortly after midnight Saturday to be treated for a medical condition that existed before she was taken to jail. Hillsborough Sheriff's deputies – who oversee jail inmates – said they could not reveal Schenecker's medical condition, citing health care privacy laws. A jail spokesman said late Saturday that Schenecker was still at the hospital and that her first court appearance was pending.

An arrest affidavit said Schenecker shot her son twice in the head in the family car "for talking back" as she drove him to soccer practice. The report said Schenecker then drove to their upscale home and shot her daughter in the face inside the home.

Schenecker's mother called police Friday morning, and told them she was concerned after her daughter had sent an e-mail saying she was depressed. Officers found Schenecker drenched in blood on her back porch – and once they saw the teens, the scene was so troubling that a stress team was called to counsel the responding officers, a police spokeswoman said.

Calyx, the girl, was 16 and a cross country running star at her high school. The 13-year-old son, Beau, was in eighth grade.

Investigators believe the teens "never saw it coming," said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. Both were killed with a .38-caliber pistol. The arrest affidavit said the weapon was purchased five days earlier.

Schenecker's husband, Parker Schenecker, is a career Army officer attached to U.S. Central Command in Tampa. He was working in the Middle East when the shootings happened.

In 2008, the family moved to Tampa and bought a $448,000 home in a quiet, upscale suburban neighborhood. As the sun set Friday evening, residents walked by crime scene tape that sealed off the cul-de-sac that the Schenecker family lived on.

Neighbor Charanun Soodjinda said the Scheneckers "fit right in" when they arrived. The couple's two children often played in the cul-de-sac with other neighborhood kids, and Julie Schenecker seemed to be at home a lot.

"They seemed like a nice family," said Soodjinda, 38. "I never thought this would happen. How could you do that to your children?"

It was clear something had gone wrong: As police led Julie Schenecker to a patrol car Friday, she shook uncontrollably, her eyes wide and wild.

Before Friday's arrest, Schenecker had no criminal record in Florida. On Nov. 8, 2010, she was involved in a car crash in Tampa, according to records from the Florida Highway Patrol, and cited for careless driving.

The crash caused bodily injury and $26,500 of property damage, records show, but it does not explain who was injured or what property was damaged. Schenecker paid a $151 fine and attended traffic school, the report said.

The family appeared to be happy, at least according to friends – and they appeared to glow in photos posted online. The two teens were described as well-mannered by family friends. In several family portraits on Parker Schenecker's Facebook page, the four posed, smiling and relaxed.

"You all look so stunning and young. Did you find the fountain of youth and your not telling anyone!!!! WOW, you four look so good and healthy!!!" wrote one of Schenecker's friends on a dramatic black-and-white photo of the family.

Another photo shows the four in Santa hats. "What a great photo! You never disappoint! Your family is something to be proud of, look at how happy every one of you are!" a friend wrote in response.

Parker Schenecker also posted several photos of Calyx's cross country running team.

Julie Schenecker's Facebook page says she studied physical education at the University of Iowa. In May 2010, she posted a video of her husband; he appeared in a real estate company's video about looking for a home in Tampa.

She posted words of encouragement on her daughter's running photos, reminisced about skiing in Austria in the late '80s and added more than 400 friends.

On Aug. 24, she "liked" a link that read: "Be kinder than necessary, because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle."

Comments

[cobraxus]

01:19 PM on 02/02/2011

meanwhile all across the internet,troll-logic is on display.the kids had it coming.parents should be allowed to smack around their kids.it's all the liberals fault for creating such a permissive society.
well here's the deal.mom was smacking the daughter around quite abit.in fact,she seemed to be the main target of her mother's wrath even before mom SHOT HER IN THE FACE!now reports are surfacing that dad and the two kids had attended an AL-ANON support meeting and an entirely different picture emerges of an addict who set out to destroy her own family.

[lovely09]

10:25 PM on 02/01/2011

I can't imagine the utter horror those kids must have felt if they saw their own mother pointing a gun at them.

[Alfern Webb]

05:55 PM on 02/01/2011

This is such a sad sad tragedy and you wonder what would drive a woman to do these things to her own children. Was she resentful that her husband was so far away leaving her to handle everything on her own?

That fact that she hurt the children makes me think she could have been striking out at him in some way. The best way to hurt him is to take his children. Did she find out if he was cheating on her, or was he talking about divorce?

Somewhere along the lines something broke down and drove her to this. I am not speculating, just wondering.... and wonder why if he's out of the country so much, wouldn't she be living around family for support?

Just a very sad story.

[sunny2009]

02:13 AM on 02/01/2011

And just how can you have 396 "friends" on FB and none of them not know that you are a walking psycho ready to implode?
Watching that video of her on the perp walk in a near catatonic state shows she HAD to have had disturbing signs of mental illness and scary behavior long before she committed this heinous act.
(Creepy!!)

Maybe FB should rename their connections as "sort of acquaintances who may or may not really know one another but we comment on each other's statuses and photos like we really are bff's....but really we are bs'ers".....because they certainly are not friends!!

And btw.....the article missed the one where the mom murderer "liked" the group "If you hurt my daughter, I will make your death look like an accident"

Sooo......maybe this woman will have an "accident" in jail

[Angela Wright]

05:42 PM on 01/31/2011

This story illustrates exactly why the USA needs gun control. The mother obviously had some type of psychotic "break" and decided to kill her adolescent children. People often survive being stabbed or otherwise attacked - they can run faster or try to fight. But a gun? These kids didn't stand a chance. Guns wreak havoc. They kill far more innocent kids than they do criminals. The NRA is causing the death of children on a daily basis.

[TWIGGYCERNIGLIA]

12:26 AM on 02/01/2011

That is completely ridiculous. I purchased my first gun from a local neighborhood kid when i was 14. By the time I turned 18, I had bought 3 more guns off the streets. No license, no background checks, no paperwork, no government approval. In fact, every kid I hung out with had a gun that their parents didn't know about. Did any of us ever shoot anyone? NO. Making stricter laws will never stop people from getting guns....EVER. It will only keep YOU from getting one. Also, I have never been a member of or met anyone in the NRA. What happened here is a tragedy and nothing more, so don't push blame on someone else.

[PhineusFreed]

12:05 PM on 01/31/2011

I firmly believe the kids were just kids, and that it is cruel to attempt to blame them. My first reflex is this:

http://behavioralhealth.typepad.com/markhams_behavioral_healt/2007/07/the-borderlin-1.html

My heartfelt sympathies to the father, extended family, and friends of the victims.

[sunny2009]

02:18 AM on 02/01/2011

you're sooooo right. One of their friends posted a cute vid of the boy goofing off in class (mildly) -- it was so cute and you could just tell he was a nice, well-liked, sweet kid. There wasn't a hint of anything disruptive in the class or anything.
The girl was on her computer and ambushed from behind!!
These poor kids never had a chance.

I think this woman was not cut out to be home with the kids while her husband was off serving our country. I feel for him -- but somehow -- I just have to think he knew something was radically wrong.
Why does her mom have to call the cops from Texas? I know dad was away, too, but if you're married that long, you HAVE to know when someone is off their rocker.
What a loss he will have to live with. He will need many, many prayers and grace to get through this.

[Agrownman9]

12:38 AM on 01/31/2011

I Don't Think This is Right,But Im Thinking it's caused by stress do to Laws put in play againist parents.Nowdays parents can't even raise their voice at their children without a judge or some radical liberal peeking their head thru the door.Kids know they can do things nowadays & basically nothin can happen to them.So whats a parent to do.

[sunny2009]

02:21 AM on 02/01/2011

the mother HIT her child across the face -- and admitted it to police. Said she hit her daughter three times.
The fact that dad didn't IMMEDIATELY protect his daughter and have her put somewhere safe is a tragedy.
There are LOTS and lots and lots of ways to deal with kids who get a little out-of-hand now and again -- but HITTING them is not one of them...and is never, ever, ever an option.........ever!

(and neither is shooting them).

If a parent even laid on finger on m kid - -that would be the end. You do NOT get a second chance with any kind of violence -- esp physical violence.

[Alfern Webb]

05:30 PM on 02/01/2011

That's bunk. I was spanked as a child and spanked my children when absolutely needed. Mostly for dangerous things that's I've asked them not to do such as run away in the stores or streets etc. Teaching your kids to obey you when you speak and not yell is important. Couple that with plenty of hugs and kisses and you have a great balance. My kids are all productive members of society and even served in the military.

To say appropriate spanking is damaging is not validated. I would wager that Eric and Dylan that shot up Columbine didn't get spankings and look what they did.

Granted everyone doesn't have control to discipline their kids appropriately and in the wrong hands it can be just like a gun in the wrong hand. But to outlaw spanking is like saying no one should have guns.

[juana72]

04:42 PM on 01/30/2011

The only thing I can say is that this woman is seriously disturbed. We can point at a million reasons but the bottom line is that SHE IS ILL.

[shthar]

02:58 PM on 01/30/2011

In other news, new tea party candidate found in Tampa...

[johnny dio]

03:31 PM on 01/30/2011

How truly empty-headed of you to say so.

[shthar]

01:14 AM on 01/31/2011

Hey, they didn't pick me as tea party spokesman cuz I'm smart.

[ehorth]

02:49 PM on 01/31/2011

I beg your pardon??

[powercosmic]

02:44 PM on 01/30/2011

You know that if this had been a teenage boy who shot his parents, Pat Robertson and James Dobson would be on TV right now blaming the Liberal Media and Heavy Metal Music.

But because it was an adult woman, Evangelicals are coming out of the wood-work to call it Mental Illness, and Depression. When it comes to defending one of their own they cop the things that they otherwise attack everyday.

[ehorth]

02:52 PM on 01/31/2011

What are you basing your statement that Schenecker is an Evangelical, i.e. "defending one of their own".

This woman could well be mentally ill, that doesn't have anything to do with the Tea Party, Liberals, Republicans, Evangelicals, Atheists, whatever.

[powercosmic]

02:40 PM on 01/30/2011

There are some who want to say that this woman, who for all intents and purposes executed her own children, was "depressed"

Well if this happened on an island in the South Pacific there is no way that I would be blaming American Culture, which is infused with Christianity and the Righteous Anger that goes with it at every turn.

But depressed because her Children didn't "behave" the way her Conservative views demand? Or perhaps it was the threat of embarrassment in her circle of Conservative friends?

If this were the result of "mental illness" then its a mental illness that owes much to American Culture, and Right-Wing Evangelical Christianity.

To say that this woman isn't guilty or that our Culture isn't guilty would be like saying "The Devil Did It"

She used a .38 Caliber Hand-Gun for f__k sake, how much more Evangelical Christian can that get?

She must have had several minutes to ponder her actions after popping her own son, right? The smells and sounds of that killing didn't give her pause? Yet she still shot her own daughter in the FACE.

Wow! Let justice be done though the heavens fall, is what the Bible says, every thought that led this woman her horrific action is her own.

[Anonani]

04:12 PM on 01/30/2011

Mental illness, if it is that, does not excuse this horrible crime. We are trying to make sense of it and explanations are something that it is normal to pursue. I think the criminal justice system refers to it as motive. Why did this happen? I doubt that anyone is trying to excuse this tragedy or absolve this woman from such a horrific thing that she has apparently done.

[ehorth]

03:14 PM on 01/31/2011

Thank you - faved! Of course we're trying to make sense out of this, because on the one hand, we don't want to find out that any one of us living in our "normal suburbs" could suddenly snap like this one day, and on the other, we could "breathe easier" if we knew that she was an aberration, "a looney tunes" that has nothing to do with us and our "normalcy".

And at the end of the day, she must get help rather than sweeping her under the rug of prison. A murder like Tampa, like Tucson, like Fort Hood, like Columbine, is part of us all. We need to learn the signs, and see what we can do to prevent These in the future.

[lovely09]

10:29 PM on 02/01/2011

Exactly. I don't think victims of people who plead "insanity" care if the killer has a mental problem or not.

They need to be incarcerated, not counseled and "rehabilitated" after their crime of murder. Why? So they can be let out on parole? What then?

[Lahib]

02:57 AM on 01/31/2011

Your entire comment is insanely ignorant. There is not one word in the article about this woman being "Conservative," or "Right Wing," or an "Evangelical Christian," or any such thing. You clearly know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Christian faith or the Bible, and are just parroting the brainwashing you've been fed by others who hate the Bible, hate Christians, hate America, etc. ("Let justice be done though the heavens fall" is NOT a quote from the Bible, it's from a pre-Christian Roman philosopher. If you had any interest in the truth, you would know that. But you don't care about the truth; all you care about is hating Christianity.) You do not have a mind of your own; you are a slave. (And I'm sure you're "pro-choice," which means you're all for mothers killing their children every day. How morally superior of you.)

[ehorth]

03:20 PM on 01/31/2011

You are doing exactly what you are accusing powercosmic of. I agree with powercosmic that "Evangelical Christian, etc. was never mentioned in the story. You, in turn, are assuming a hatred of Christianity that is unfounded here as well as leaping to your last "enlightened" sentence about "I'm sure you're "pro-choice..." to make it an epithet.

"How morally superior of you."

[TWIGGYCERNIGLIA]

12:28 AM on 02/01/2011

WOW. Open mouth, insert foot.

[RockyMissouri]

12:11 PM on 01/30/2011

I'm so sorry for these children and their father....I can never understand the violence to others--especially to children- in the bloom of their lives..

[lovely09]

10:31 PM on 02/01/2011

And that poor man couldn't just leave work across town which is terrible enough. He had to travel miles and miles with this tragedy in his heart. So horrific.

[Lala17]

09:34 AM on 01/30/2011

Reading through the comments , there is a debate about gun control laws and how people including the "mentally unstable" are able to obtain guns. That is a legitimate point but the fact remains people kill other people whether it is by gun or some other means. We cannot say this woman would not have killed her children if she did not have a gun - she may have found another way. It is human to explain why these types of acts occur but some things defy any type of reasoning.

This story is horrific and I feel the loss of the children - I can't even imagine what kind of terror they felt in those last seconds. I refuse to give this woman a free/semi-free pass based on her supposed mental state. She was cognizant enough to buy a gun, use it to shoot one child in a car and then drove home and shoot the other child. The kids were being "mouthy" is not a defense, it is more like an excuse. Raising teenagers is not easy at times but the vast majority of parents do it without brutally killing their kids. Personally, I am tired of hearing these stories about people destroying lives including their own and somehow we are supposed to feel sorry for them because they could not handle it. Life is full of difficulties but it is how you deal with the challenges demonstrates what kind of person you are.

[roshni]

09:56 AM on 01/30/2011

Well said and fanned. Can you imagine how those kids felt when the person who was supposed to protect them shot them in the head and face?

[Said One]

12:20 PM on 01/30/2011

Raising teenagers yes is not easy and it needs to be acknowledged so that people who have difficulty raising their kids or don't know how can seek help

[sunny2009]

02:30 AM on 02/01/2011

So....why didn't the dad seek help for his wife and protect his children?
The police were called last fall (by the daughter) and the mom admitted she whacked her in the face....not once....not twice...but three times!!!!!!

The mom was supposedly in some sort of counseling then. What happened?
Why did her mom have to call police in Tampa from her home in Texas?
Dad was away....but surely had phone contact...FB....etc.

Families also need to be responsible for each other, too.
He had an obligation to protect his children. What about other parents and their friends?

Once mom laid a hand on his daughter....that father should not have allowed mom near her.
There is no way....no way.....you can excuse physical violence against a child.
I would never, ever, ever allow someone to do that to my child and then let them continue caring for them. It just would not happen.
How many times are we going to repeat the same thing -- about seeking help?

The father should have stepped in -- as he had legal authority (to some degree).
You and I (who don't know her)....do not.
We HAVE to be responsible for our families.....as no one else will.

[MIVOTE]

09:32 AM on 01/30/2011

Is the gun the issue or is the issue helping people get assistance when they need it?

[johnny dio]

10:27 AM on 01/30/2011

I think that restricting access to guns by people who need assistance is the issue.

[MIVOTE]

11:03 AM on 01/30/2011

I respect your opinion, unfortunately, there is no way to detect when all people may need some assistance....as we all do at some point and who knows when that point will occur?

So rather, perhaps your point is to restrict access...cause as humans we will all need assistance sometime in our life.

[Finesse17a]

09:19 AM on 01/30/2011

One that cannot be blamed on the 'black guy'. Let us make it easier to get guns.