John Jefferson
Inset: Tesha Florence, also known as Tesha Jenkins (Sedgwick County Jail). Background: The apartments where Florence allegedly killed her son (Google Maps).
A Kansas mom is behind bars after admittedly shooting and killing her son, even though she only intended to scare him with her gun, according to police.
Tesha Florence, 46, also known as Tesha Jenkins, stands accused of one count each of murder in the second degree, aggravated assault, and aggravated burglary, according to Sedgwick County Jail records.
“I shot my baby,” the alleged killer said as she was being arrested earlier this month, according to the Wichita Police Department.
On the morning of Oct. 9, police responded to a shooting at Jenkins’ apartment on E. Harry Street, according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
The defendant allegedly spent a substantial time recounting the events of that sad day — and expressing a deluge of sadness herself.
Outside, the mom was “emotionally distraught” and “fell to the ground and rolled around in distress,” police wrote in the affidavit.
“Jenkins went limp and dropped to the ground. Jenkins also asked Officer Morris to just kill her. After asking her again what was going on, she said that she accidentally shot her baby. Jenkins stated she pointed the gun but did not mean to shoot him,” the document reads. “Officer Morris asked Jenkins if she was injured as she had blood on her face. She replied that she kissed her baby.”
At one point, the defendant allegedly described her son as a “bad kid” who was into drugs and who would not go to school.
Inside, Robert Florence, 16, was found lying face down on the living room floor — suffering from a lone gunshot wound to his head.
Jenkins allegedly told police her son was supposed to be in school on the day in question — but that he decided he did not want to go, so he didn’t. Then, when the boy’s two older brothers left the apartment, she called her youngest son’s school to let them know he wouldn’t make it.
At home for the day, the teenager allegedly began nagging his mother by calling out “Momma” repeatedly and begging to use her phone — a request she initially refused. Then, he allegedly said he was going to see a downstairs neighbor about getting some “weed,” Jenkins allegedly told police.
Later, her son asked to use the phone again, according to the affidavit. This time he said he wanted to call one of his brothers to “tell him to ask their father for money.” The mother said she acquiesced to her son’s request. After the call, her son began “pulling down the curtains and tearing up bits of paper and throwing them on the floor,” she said. Jenkins surmised her son became destructive simply to upset her.
At some point, Jenkins said she laid down on the bed and started texting a friend, according to the affidavit. Then, her son picked up a backpack and removed a Ruger Security 9 mm, police allege.
The affidavit recounts the fatal shooting as follows:
Robert made no threats with the gun and did not point it at Jenkins. Jenkins lunged forward and grabbed the handgun and backpack from Robert. Jenkins held the handgun, pointing it towards Robert and made the statement of, “do you just want to die?” Jenkins stated the handgun “went off” and she noticed Robert fall forward and that’s when she realized she had shot him.
During her Mirandized interview, the mother said she believed the gun was empty but recalled possibly loading two rounds some two weeks prior to the fatal shooting, police say. When pressed by detectives, she allegedly said she “racked the slide back,” meaning she chambered a round, when she took the gun away from her boy.
“Jenkins denied intending to shoot Robert but admitted that she may have intended to discharge the handgun with the intent to scare Robert,” the affidavit continues. “Jenkins confirmed that Robert made no threats when holding the handgun, never pointed it in her direction and never said anything, that he was only holding the handgun.”
The teenager was shot in the forehead.
Jenkins’ son succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 11.
In a separate portion of the charging document, Jenkins stands accused of forcing her way into her ex-husband’s residence and angrily pointing her handgun at him and his 22-year-old girlfriend. This incident allegedly occurred in March. Law enforcement say they learned about the alleged assault and burglary while investigating the fatal shooting.
The defendant is currently being detained on $1.2 million bond.
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