Jaquari Bennett, and Darian Javaris Bennett.
In a series of tragic and violent events, a man allegedly killed the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, abducted that child, and crossed county lines before fatally shooting the daughter and himself.
Georgia authorities identified the child as Jaquari Bennett, 1. The late suspect is her father Darian Javaris Bennett, 38. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced an AMBER Alert on her Sunday morning, but it was to no avail.
It is with great heartache that we update this #AmberAlert.
Baby Jaquari has died. The Newton County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation. https://t.co/HQlpAHDAgZ
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) June 12, 2022
The general timeline of events is that authorities got a 911 call from a home in Covington, Georgia, at around 11:14 p.m. on Saturday, according to officials in a WAGA report. Deputies found a woman–Jaquari’s mother Keshawn Washington, 38–dead. The young girl’s grandmother survived in critical condition and said that Darian Bennett abducted Jaquari, authorities said.
Washington’s two other children, who are not related to Darian Bennett, were in the home during the shooting, authorities said. They were physically unhurt and not abducted.
Darian Bennett called 911 at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, threatening to shoot himself and Jaquari, officials said. He ultimately carried out that threat, authorities said.
We’re by First United Methodist Church, where the bodies of Darien and Jaquari Bennett were found. The Honda on the left is the car Darien drove away from Covington after killing his ex and shooting her mom. @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/nJfCExZ8Bl
— Madeline Montgomery (@MadelineTV) June 12, 2022
Authorities said they found Darian Bennett’s black Honda Accord with the door open on Sunday morning near a church in Clayton County. Officers with the Riverdale Police Department said they heard multiple gunshots. They said they discovered Jaquari and Darian Bennett dead in the woods.
“We just don’t know what triggered this,” Newton County sheriff’s Sgt. Jack Redlinger told the outlet. “We don’t know if there are any mental issues. I’m not familiar with any arrests on him yet, so I’m not familiar with his background. Hopefully in a couple days we’ll have that information.”
Update – June 14, 10:11 a.m.: We added Washington’s name.
[Images via Georgia Bureau of Investigation]
