The victims included a young mother, her two children and her mother.
PLANT CITY, Fla. — A Plant City family was killed Sunday in a shooting that left a mother, her infant, her 4-year-old child and her mother dead along West Tever Street, police and records show.
The deaths of Hailey Dempsey, 28, her two children and Valerie DeBoe, 55, have become the focus of an active homicide investigation. Police have released limited details, but the case has raised questions about what happened before the shooting, why the family was outside and when investigators may announce charges.
The violence unfolded Sunday morning in a residential part of Plant City, east of Tampa. Police said officers found the two children dead in a wooded area along West Tever Street. Dempsey was found critically injured and later died. DeBoe was found dead at a home connected to the case. Reports said neighbors heard gunfire before the victims were discovered, turning the street and nearby brush into a crime scene.
Investigators have not publicly released the full path the victims took or the order in which they were shot. Local reports said Dempsey had left the home with her children before she was found outside. Police have not confirmed all details of that movement in a full public timeline. What is known is that the deaths happened across more than one scene, forcing detectives to examine both the home and the area where the mother and children were found.
The case followed a police response to a domestic disturbance at the same home less than two days earlier, according to a police report obtained by local outlets. That earlier call has become a key part of the timeline, though police have not said what role it may play in the criminal investigation. Records cited in reports show Hailey Dempsey and Jay Dempsey Jr. owned the home. Police have not announced charges against Jay Dempsey Jr. or anyone else.
Plant City police have said the investigation remains active and ongoing. In cases involving multiple deaths, detectives often rely on autopsy findings, ballistics, witness interviews, phone data, surveillance video and statements from people tied to the scene. Officials have not said which evidence has been collected in this case or when the next public briefing will happen. Prosecutors would decide whether charges are filed after reviewing the evidence police submit.
The killings left four generations touched by the same loss: a grandmother, a daughter and two children. The ages of the youngest victims have made the case especially painful for the community. West Tever Street, normally a neighborhood road, became the center of a large police response Sunday as officers marked evidence and tried to piece together the family’s final moments.
As of the latest update, police had not announced an arrest or released a full motive. The investigation remains with Plant City police, and the next milestone will be any official update on charges, evidence or the completed timeline.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.