Advertisement

Child welfare officials vistied Florida mother of six after she tested positive for drugs

Florida Dept. of Children and Families opened a case into Sarah Spirit after she tested positive for synthetic marijuana while on probation for grand theft.

By Heather Records

BELL, Fla., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The Florida Department of Children and Families had opened a case into the mother of six children shot and killed last week -- by their grandfather -- just weeks before she was killed by the same man.

During an interview on Sept. 1 Sarah Spirit admitted to DCF investigators she failed a drug test given to her by her probation officer. She was arrested for the violation.

Advertisement

According to the report she was smoking synthetic marijuana, more commonly known as "Spice."

The report also said once Spirit was released from jail she and her kids were kicked out of the home where they were living. That was when the family went to live with her father, Don Spirit.

Don Spirit shot and killed his daughter and her six children before turning the gun on himself Thursday afternoon.

On Monday afternoon, a private funeral was held for the family at a cemetery outside of Bell.

Police were also called out to the home two times previously before Thursday's mass murder-suicide.

In 2008, Sarah Spirit called the Gilchrist Co. Sheriff's Office after she told investigators her father was demanding she pay his property taxes. Don Spirit was inside of the home and refused to come out. That incident ended peacefully.

Advertisement

In 2002, Spirit became angry with his now ex-wife and smashed up her SUV with a sledgehammer and threatened to kill her. She did not press charges because she did not want to make Spirit angrier.

Latest Headlines