A man fatally shot his young daughter before turning the gun on himself, cops have revealed – saying in a statement the crime was one of passion that occurred days after the girl’s mother filed a restraining order.
The update to the July 12 case was aired by the Modesto Police Department this week, several days after 50-year-old Donovan Halstead is said to have killed his eight-year-old daughter in their Central California home.
Halstead’s Facebook was filled with pictures of his daughter.
The father posted at length in August of last year about his lifelong struggle with ‘unrelenting and immovable’ clinical depression.
In a statement, cops elected to not name the minor, but said they came into contact with a still-armed Halstead upon arrival moments before he carried out the deed.
After receiving a call about a suicidal person on the premises, they said they confronted the father as he waved a gun through one of the Havenhurst Court home’s window, and that he told them he was going to come out unarmed.
However, within minutes, police heard gunshots from inside the residence, and went inside to find a still-alive Halstead suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Also found in the home was the man’s daughter, cops said, who was also suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.
Despite life-saving measures being immediately performed, the release revealed she died on the scene.
The department wrote of the encounter: ‘Officers were dispatched to the 3700 Block of Havenhurst Court in response to a report of a suicidal subject.
‘Upon arrival, officers saw the subject inside the home through a window, armed with a firearm.
‘Officers immediately attempted to communicate with him, and the subject stated he was going to come out unarmed. However, before he did so, officers heard gunshots from inside the home.
‘After hearing the gunshots, officers entered the residence and located the subject suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
‘Tragically, Halstead’s 8-year-old daughter was also found in the home, seriously injured from a gunshot wound. Despite life-saving measures, she sadly did not survive.’
As for Halstead, cops revealed he died this past Friday after being ‘transported to a local hospital for treatment.’
He had been hospitalized since this past Wednesday after sustaining the self-inflicted gunshot wound, which cops at the time said was so severe that the suspect was ‘not expected to survive.’
The police force went on to reveal that its Violent Crimes Unit has since taken over the investigation – as both court records and social media posts from the deceased have shed some light on what may have been the murderer’s motive.
According to a report from The Modesto Bee Friday, the slain girl’s mother, Kristin Halstead – who divorced Halstead in April – filed a restraining order against her ex on July 10, two days before he committed the murder.
Revealing the girl had been a student in the Sylvan Union School District, The Bee further reported a judge approved that order on July 12 – just three hours before the violence occurred.
Friends of Kristin, who was not home at the time of shooting, have since erected a GoFundMe to help cover the funeral costs of the slain youngster.
A tribute to the girl remembered her as ‘a child full of life, radiating joy and curiosity to everyone around her.
‘Her laughter, innocence, and limitless potential were abruptly taken away, leaving a void that can never be filled.’
