Radrick Deshay Francois (Orange County Sheriff's Office)
A 20-year-old man in Florida has been arrested for allegedly murdering the mother and grandmother of his young daughter as he and the mother were in the midst of a tumultuous custody battle.
Radrick Deshay Francois was taken into custody Friday afternoon and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm in the fatal shootings of 20-year-old Tanga Owens and 39-year-old Tanishia Starr, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said that Francois — who had previously threatened to kill Owens — shot and killed her and her mother while the women were in a car parked in front of an apartment complex on on London Crest Drive. There were also two young children in the car at the time, one of whom was Francois and Owens' 2-year-old daughter, per OCSO. Neither of the children were harmed.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG-TV provided additional details on the double-murder.
According to the report, deputies responded to 911 calls at around 11:30 a.m. on April 14 about a shooting in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found two female victims — later identified as Owens and Starr — inside of a Kia sedan suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The two women were transported to a local hospital where they were both pronounced dead.
Multiple witnesses reportedly told investigators that they saw an adult male wearing a "Sesame Street" Count von Count hooded sweatshirt standing outside of the vehicle and speaking with the two women before hearing gunshots ring out. The man was then seen running from the scene holding a young child in his arms, deputies wrote. Owens' 8-month-old son was reportedly left in the backseat of the vehicle.
At the time of the shooting, several unmarked deputies from the sheriff's apprehension unit were already in the area for an unrelated investigation and were reportedly able to block off the exits immediately and identify Francois as the suspect.
Investigators said they were then able to contact Francois' mother, who notified deputies about the ongoing custody battle between her son and Owens, her son's "stated intent to kill Owens," and which apartment he lived in, per WKMG. Francois was reportedly on the phone telling his mother that he had no hand in the shooting when deputies got him to come out of the apartment and placed him under arrest.
His 2-year-old daughter was found unharmed inside the apartment.
Francois was transported to the sheriff's office where authorities say he confessed to the shooting, but claimed he actually shot Owens in self-defense and Starr by accident.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Francois said Owens was armed and "being disrespectful towards him" when she arrived at the apartment with her mother and the two kids. Francois reportedly said that he wrestled the gun away from Owens then took his daughter out of the vehicle. He then claimed that he was trying to give the firearm back to Owens when she "snatched" it from him and it went off.
However, security footage from the parking lot showed Francois — who was wearing the Sesame Street hoodie — approaching the vehicle's passenger side door, briefly interact with Owens and Starr, then shoot the women, per WKMG. It wasn't until after the shooting that Francois reportedly took his daughter out of the vehicle and left the infant behind.
While executing a search warrant on Francois' apartment, investigators say they recovered the Sesame Street sweatshirt and several rounds for a 9mm handgun.
Francois is currently being held in the Orange County Jail without bond.
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