Seven children were inside 36-year old Natasha Whyte-Dell’s home when 41-year old Patrick Dell shot her and five of the children. Four were killed, the fifth survived. Dell was the biological father of the two children, who were left unharmed. After the murders, Dell wandered outside the home and took his own life. Last December Dell reportedly went after Natasha with a knife, telling her “you will be going to the morgue.” He slashed her car tires and etched an X in the concrete driveway. Dell was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief; but a child protective investigator who deemed the case was low risk, said, “the father has stated that he would never harm the children.” The state’s Department of Children and Families revealed their investigators had ignored five cases of domestic disturbances in the home and said they were not notified of a restraining order last May when the judge was informed that Dell was stalking Natasha, broke the home’s glass door and threatened that her finals days “would be bitter.” No one followed up on the children’s safety.
