Four NELSON-BARNETT Children - 14-13-11-10 yo - (2010) Riviera Beach FL

A South Florida man spared his two biological children when he fatally shot his estranged wife and four stepchildren early Monday before turning the gun on himself, police said.Seven children were inside the home when Patrick Dell, 41, killed their mother, identified as Natasha Whyte-Dell, 36, authorities said. She and four children were pronounced dead at the scene. All had been shot.A 15-year-old male was transported to St. Mary's Hospital where he was being treated. His condition was not immediately known. A phone message was left with hospital officials.Two of the couple's biological children, believed to be ages 1 and 3, were being cared for by relatives.A police officer was checking a suspicious vehicle around 2 a.m. when he heard what sounded like muffled gun shots, Riviera Beach Police spokeswoman Rose Anne Brown said. When officers approached the home, Dell went outside and shot himself. Dell died at the scene, she said.Inside the home, officers found the bodies of the woman and four children identified as 11-year-old Javon Nelson; 10-year-old Daniel Barnett; 14 year-old Bryan Barnett; and 13 year-old Diane Barnett."It appears to be a murder-suicide," Brown said.Palm Beach County School District officials plan to have grief counselors available at each of the children's schools.By dawn Monday, police had blocked off all access to the crime scene, parking a large police truck to impede reporters' views.The shootings occurred in a neighborhood of modest homes — some boarded up — near a small brick church.Jeanette Walker, a 56-year-old hairstylist who lives nearby, said she was awakened by gunfire, which is not an uncommon sound in the neighborhood."They over there shooting at each other again," she remembered thinking. "I didn't pay any attention because I didn't hear no sirens," she said.Walker said there have been several shootings in the area since she moved there about three years ago. It wasn't until she turned on the morning news that she learned of the deaths.Police Chief Clarence Williams commended the work of the police officers who immediately checked on the home after hearing the gunshots."Had it not been for excellent police work, this suspect could have escaped the scene and possibly injured or killed other innocent victims," he wrote in a release.

Estranged dad kills Riviera Beach mom, 4 kids, then self in murder-suicide

Founders of Mothers Against Murderers Association struggles with eighth slain family member . 34 police visits but no arrests before Riviera massacre . Natasha Whyte-Dell endured years of control and jealousy, friends say. . DCF: Agency could have done more to protect slain Riviera Beach mother, children . Estranged dad kills Riviera Beach mom, 4 kids, then self in murder-suicide

Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010

Posted: 5:20 a.m. Monday, Sep. 27, 2010

RIVIERA BEACH — The night her husband finally came for her, raging, jealous and armed with a pistol, Natasha Whyte-Dell was surrounded by her seven children in their house by the cemetery.

Patrick Alexander Dell, 41 - whose growing anger and increasingly violent behavior has been chronicled in court records and police reports for the past three years - forced his way inside early Monday and started shooting. When he was finished, Whyte-Dell, 36, and four of her children were dead, according to city police, neighbors, relatives and friends. A fifth lay bleeding from a gunshot wound to the neck but would survive.

The two remaining children, a one-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl who Dell had fathered with his wife before she turned him out, he left unharmed.

He walked outside about 2 a.m., just as a police car pulled up to the house, put the gun to his head and shot himself dead, punctuating the worst mass murder-suicide in Palm Beach County's history.

The father of three children killed in 2010 is suing child welfare officials he says were negligent.

Diane Barnett (top left) | Bryan Barnett (top right) | Daniel Barnett (bottom left) | Javon Nelson (bottom right)

Michael Barnett has filed the lawsuit against the Department of
Children and Families in the Riviera Beach shooting spree by his
ex-wife's estranged husband. It comes a month after a man who was the
father of a fourth murdered child filed similar litigation.Barnett
claims DCF ignored obvious warning signs, including dozens of visits to
the house by police and the agency's own investigation sparked by
threats and ongoing violence.Patrick Dell fatally shot his
estranged wife, Natasha Whyte-Dell, and her four children -- Diane
Barnett, Bryan Barnett, Daniel Barnett and Javon Nelson -- before taking
his own life. A fifth stepchild, Ryan Barnett, was shot but survived.

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PDF: Michael Barnett vs. DCF Lawsuit

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The lawsuit seeks wrongful death and personal injury damages in excess of $15,000.DCF
spokesman Mark Riordan declined to comment on the lawsuit, other than
to say that the "entire law enforcement system, the circuit court and
the child welfare community made significant improvements" to the way
they handle domestic violence calls in Palm Beach County after the
incident.

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