Lawyer called 911 about client who police say dropped 5-year-old daughter over bridge to her death
A Florida man with a history of domestic abuse complaints is facing a first-degree murder charge after a St. Petersburg police officer saw him throw his five-year-old daughter off a freeway bridge into Tampa Bay early Thursday. Rescuers soon found her in the water, but she was dead before 3 a.m.
One of the last people to contact authorities about John Jonchuck Jr. was his own lawyer. The 25-year-old showed up for a Wednesday appointment with attorney Genevieve Torres of the Family First Law Group wearing his pajamas, seeking her help to get custody of his child, who was at the appointment with him, according to the Tampa Bay Times and WPBF.
Although Torres didn’t know much about Jonchuck, who was a new client, she was alarmed when he said she was God the creator and asked her to read a Bible in Swedish. She refused his request to attend church with him, and he told her “Don’t file the paperwork. It’s not going to matter anymore.”
Torres called 911, telling a dispatcher that Jonchuck was “out of his mind” and driving with his daughter to the church where Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies found him and Phoebe, the newspaper recounts. They talked to him but felt he was not a threat and said that the five-year-old appeared happy.
“I just regret not keeping her in the office and letting him go,” Torres told the dispatcher during the 911 call.
Related coverage:
Miami Herald (sub. req.): “Before girl’s death on Tampa Bay bridge, a family in chaos”
Updated at 7:15 to add link to Miami Herald article.
