It appears that dad AUSTEN BLAKE MINTER has massacred his entire family--pregnant wife, two children. A third child--miraculously--still clings to life. What a sick bastard. Of course, he has a history of domestic violence, assault, and broken orders of protection.
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/minter-48962-friday-destiny.html
7-year-old Destiny Minter still in critical condition at hospital
July 11, 2010 10:51 PM
Michael Barrett
A 7-year-old girl who police say was shot in the head by her father Friday continues to fight for her life in a hospital trauma center.
Destiny Minter was still listed in critical condition Sunday night at Carolinas Medical Center. She is the only survivor of an apparent murder-suicide that left her parents and two siblings dead Friday, in an incident that has shaken the Dallas community where the shooting occurred.
Gaston County police say Austen Blake Minter, 25, shot his wife, Tracy Lee Hedgepath, 24, and their three children, Austen Blake Minter II, 6, Serenity Tyvone Minter, 3, and Destiny Miller, before turning the gun on himself.
The shootings occurred between midnight Thursday and 1 p.m. Friday in the kitchen of the family’s home at 1303 Dean Drive near Dallas, according to police. Destiny was still alive when her grandparents came to the home to check on Hedgepath, who had not shown up to work at Kmart in Gastonia that day.
Detectives continue to believe that Destiny may offer the best hope of understanding what led to Friday’s murder-suicide. Capt. Joe Ramey of the Gaston County Police Department said they plan to interview the girl when her condition improves.
Destiny was in the home surrounded by her dead mother and siblings for several hours before her grandparents arrived, but may have been incapacitated or unconscious for part of the time, according to police.
Detectives say Hedgepath was about three months pregnant with her and Minter’s fourth child.
Police say Austen Minter had a history of domestic violence complaints. Arrest records show he was charged twice in 2008 with violating a domestic violence protective order and had also been charged with domestic criminal trespassing and assault on a female.
Ramey said Hedgepath had applied for a domestic violence protective order in 2008, but she had never completed the process to have the order enforced.