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Quadruple murder still under investigation
Nearly a month since Plant City police found a woman and her children and their grandmother killed, there are still more questions than answers in the community. FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports.
PLANT CITY, Fla. - Nearly a month since Plant City police found a woman and her children and their grandmother killed, there are still more questions than answers in the community.
Family killed in Plant City
The backstory:
The morning of May 3, a four-year-old and a four-month-old were found shot to death in some shrubbery on West Tever Street. Their 28-year-old mother, Hailey Dempsey, was found fighting for her life in a nearby home, but she later died at the hospital. Dempsey's 55-year-old mother was then found dead at another home on North Burton Street.
The police were left with more questions than answers at the time.
A week later, community members held a vigil to honor their lives.
"I did see myself in the victim, being a 26-year-old mother as well. The reason that I wanted to open up the invitation to the community is to not let another resident of Plant City, and especially a mother, feel like she’s alone or like she doesn’t have people in the community to support her," said Luisa Ruiz, the vigil organizer.
Community members say they're frustrated that the case remains unsolved.
Helping the Plant City community
Big picture view:
"Don't they say on all the shows that it's within the ‘First 48?’ And it has been almost a month, and there has been no movement, no progress," said Hayley Milkes.
Milkes is a survivor of domestic violence herself, and she is pushing for the creation of a domestic violence (DV) unit at the police department. This quadruple homicide case has also inspired her to create her own nonprofit, The Fifth Call, for domestic violence survivors.
"We need to have more of a support system for proactivity instead of reactivity," she said. "There's nothing within a ten-mile radius for a woman or man to go to for help until it's too late."
She hopes the community will have more answers soon.
"Right now, we're just continuing to say [Hailey's] name and spread awareness," Milkes said.
What you can do:
At the time, Plant City police said they did have potential suspects in mind, but they didn't name them or give descriptions. Since then, they've asked the community to share security camera footage between the two crime scenes, but no one has been arrested.
Plant City Murder Scene
A spokesperson for the police department says there are no updates at this time. If you have any information about this case, you can contact the Plant City Police Department at (813) 757-9200, or by contacting Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1 (800) 873-TIPS (8477).
The Source: This article was written with information from the Plant City Police Department and Hayley Milkes, a concerned community member.