Who was John Stacey? Florida man, 47, who killed son, 4, in murder-suicide 'stalked and threatened' boy's mom
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: It was reported that a father and son were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide on May 21. However, court records indicate that the four-year-old son who died along with his father was asked to be removed from his care by the boy's mother. The mother indicated that she had received multiple text messages from him that were threatening in nature.
The mother's attorneys had filed an emergency injunction on Friday, May 21, to have her four-year-old Greyson Kessler removed from the care of his 47-year-old father. It was only hours later that on the same day at 10 pm that the bodies of the son and the father were found.
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Who was John Stacey?
John Stacey is the 47-year-old father who allegedly shot his son before aiming the gun at himself. According to media reports, the police believe that the incident occurred sometime on Thursday. Fort Lauderdale Police confirmed the deaths of Stacey and Greyson on Monday, May 24. As of now, only the preliminary findings have been confirmed by the officials.
It was also reported that the emergency injunction filed by the lawyers of the child's mother Alison Kessler was denied by the judge. In the ruling, the judge said that the situation "does not present an emergency as it addresses the issue of child visitation." The 17th Judicial Circuit in a statement said that judges are not allowed to comment on pending proceedings.
The statement read, "The 17th Judicial Circuit is aware of the tragic situation reported in the news over the weekend. Judges are prohibited from commenting on pending proceedings and cannot discuss the specifics of any orders," and added, "It cannot be stressed enough that if someone has reason to believe a child or any other person is in danger, they should call law enforcement --- in all instances. We extend to the family and mother of this horrific event our deepest condolences."
According to the motion, it was revealed that Kessler and Stacey's custody of their son was on a timesharing schedule. However, when Kessler learned that Stacey had not taken his son to school on Thursday or Friday, she tried to reach out to him. However, there was no response to her text or calls. She had mentioned that Stacey "consistently stalked and harassed" over text messages and this increased when Stacey believed that she had a boyfriend.
Stacey wrote in a text message dated May 14, "You are not allowed to date, other people. It's either me or no one. Or I will remove child support and quintuple text volume. The choice is yours, Ali." Stacey also texted her "Clearly you are attempting to take legal action against me if you are hanging out by the courthouse. What is the status?" after she had visited the court on May 19, leading Kessler to believe that he may have put a tracker on her car. She found the tracker a day later and reported the same to the police.
The police said about the investigation in a statement, "This is a parent’s worst nightmare. We understand the mother and family of the child victim are feeling an immense amount of grief at this time. We want to ensure them, and our community, we will be conducting a full investigation into this incident."