ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A 25-year-old Tampa man faces a first-degree murder charge after throwing his 5-year-old daughter off a bridge on the approach to the Sunshine Skyway early Thursday morning.
A St. Petersburg police officer who was heading home just after midnight tried to stop a PT Cruiser that passed him going about 100 mph. The officer said the car stopped on the approach to the Skyway bridge and he saw a man get out and throw a child over the rail into Tampa Bay. The officer said the man then got back into his car and drove south.
Rescue crews arrived and pulled the little girl from the water. But Phoebe Jonchuk died at 2:44 a.m. at a hospital. Her father, John Jonchuk, was stopped by Manatee Sheriff’s deputies about 30 minutes later.
He was returned to St. Petersburg for questioning and was being booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Thursday morning.
St. Petersburg police spokeswoman Yolando Fernandez said rescuers tried to resuscitate the child.
Jonchuk also faces charges of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer and aggravated fleeing and eluding police.
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How horrible. For this little girl, her family and for that police officer. My mother witnessed a man throw his toddler off a freeway overpass about 30 years ago because of some domestic dispute. That’s such a terrible thing, it never leaves you.
Can’t we save some taxpayer money and just throw this guy off the same bridge? Be sure and tie a 50 pound weight to each of his arms before we toss him.
This man is a father? No, he’s a piece of excrement now.
Someone in prison will get to this guy and make him suffer a horribly painful death. Even most criminals hate child killers.
Just curious, what the hell is wrong with you?
Indeed. If Darcy doesn’t like this place, why stick around? Why post at all?
On the other hand, this article does seem like an odd choice for a political blog, unless we learn that Jonchuk was in the G.O.P. primary for a Senate seat, or that he was a “sovereign citizen.” But hey, I clicked on the link!
Maybe the existence of truly crazy, horrible people makes the rest of us feel better about ourselves. Perhaps that’s why we gravitate to these kinds of stories. Sort of like reading articles about Ted Cruz or Darrell Issa.
That guy threw a little girl off a bridge? No way.