Mindy Osteen resolved the case without a trial nearly a year after Christopher Travis Jones was fatally shot during a child pickup.

STARKE, Fla. — A Florida woman was sentenced to 100 years in prison after resolving a criminal case stemming from the fatal shooting of the father of her two children outside a Starke daycare, where investigators said the children were already sitting in his vehicle when the gunfire began.

Mindy Osteen, who was 35 when she was sentenced July 15, accepted a negotiated plea agreement in the July 25, 2025, death of Christopher Travis Jones, 37. Local reporting on the hearing said the agreement included second-degree murder and several firearm-related felony counts and brought the case to an end without a trial. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively for a total of 100 years, and Osteen was also barred from contacting members of Jones’ family. The resolution came after she initially faced a first-degree murder charge following her arrest.

The sentence shifted attention from the violent details contained in the arrest investigation to the lasting effects described by Jones’ relatives. After the plea was accepted, family members were allowed to address the court. Jones’ great-aunt, Phyllis Sands, said the family had wanted an outcome that would keep Osteen imprisoned for the rest of her life. Sands also spoke about the two boys who lost their father in the shooting and, because their mother was taken into custody, effectively lost both parents from their daily lives at the same time.

Investigators said the encounter outside Auntie Lili’s Child Care Center initially resembled an ordinary pickup. Jones arrived to collect the couple’s two children, and Osteen appeared a few minutes later. According to the arrest report and accounts of surveillance footage, Osteen approached Jones and the children and hugged them. Jones then loaded the boys and their belongings into his vehicle, secured the children in the back seat and got into the driver’s seat. Authorities said there had been no visible confrontation immediately before the shooting.

That calm sequence changed moments later, investigators said. The arrest report said Osteen had a handgun concealed in a backpack and approached the driver’s side of the vehicle after Jones sat down. Authorities said she pulled out the weapon and opened fire into the vehicle. Jones got out and tried to move away as additional shots were fired. The two boys remained in the vehicle during at least part of the attack. No children were physically injured, but investigators and relatives later described the episode as an event likely to affect them long after the criminal proceedings ended.

Jones ran toward the daycare looking for help, according to investigators. He made it through the exterior entrance but could not get through a second secured door. The arrest report said Osteen followed and fired additional rounds while Jones was in the entrance area. At least six other children and two daycare employees were inside the building at the time. The report also described audio captured during the episode, including statements by Osteen referring to Jones as a “monster” and saying that he had to die. Those words were documented as part of the investigation but did not establish a verified motive for the shooting.

When Bradford County sheriff’s deputies reached the scene, Jones was still alive. Investigators said he identified Osteen as the person who had shot him. Osteen approached deputies and said she had acted in self-defense. Jones was transported to a hospital, where he died from his wounds. Authorities took Osteen into custody. The available public reports do not establish evidence supporting her self-defense statement, and the later negotiated resolution meant a jury never heard competing evidence on that claim at a trial.

The criminal case changed considerably between Osteen’s arrest and its final disposition. She initially was booked on a first-degree murder accusation along with child-cruelty, weapons and property-related allegations. By the time the case was resolved, local reporting said the negotiated charges included second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Other reports describing court records used somewhat different labels for individual firearm counts, but they agreed that the final sentence totaled 100 years.

The shooting also drew attention to an earlier history between Osteen and Jones. The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office told News4JAX after the killing that Osteen had a prior domestic battery conviction from 2020. The agency said its most recent earlier contact involving violence between the two parents occurred in April 2024 and that charges against both were later dropped. Jones’ sister, Melanie Russo, disputed Osteen’s self-defense account after the killing and said her brother had previously described harassment and conflict in the relationship. Those statements represented Russo’s account and were not findings made in the final criminal case.

Jones’ family has portrayed him as a father trying to move beyond earlier troubles. A fundraiser organized by Russo after his death described him as devoted to his sons and said he had worked to build a more stable life for them. His obituary similarly emphasized his relationship with his two boys and described them as central to changes he had made in his life. News4JAX reported in 2025 that Russo acknowledged her brother had previous encounters with law enforcement but said he regretted his past and wanted to become someone his children could admire.

For investigators, one of the most troubling elements of the case was how quickly the encounter changed. Bradford County sheriff’s Maj. George Konkel told News4JAX after the shooting that the surveillance recording initially looked like a routine daycare pickup. He said nothing appeared unusual before the gunfire. Konkel also focused on what the shooting meant for the children, who watched their father prepare to drive them away and then found themselves at the center of a homicide investigation involving their mother. At the time of the initial investigation, authorities said the boys were being cared for by relatives.

By the sentencing hearing, their living situation had changed. Sands told WCJB that the two boys had been adopted by a woman who was not related to Jones’ family. She described them as traumatized and said she expected that, as they grew older, they might seek information about what happened to their father. Her remarks placed the sentencing in a broader context than the number of years imposed: The court could close the prosecution, but the consequences for two children remained outside the reach of any criminal judgment.

The guilty or no-contest characterization of Osteen’s plea has varied among published reports. WCJB described her as pleading guilty to the charges, while People, citing other reporting, described the resolution as a no-contest plea. Both accounts agree that she accepted a negotiated disposition, received consecutive prison sentences totaling 100 years and will have no contact with Jones’ family. Because the agreement eliminated the need for a trial, the public record does not include a jury verdict resolving every disputed claim surrounding the relationship or Osteen’s initial statement that she acted in self-defense.

Osteen remains subject to the 100-year prison sentence imposed in Bradford County. The criminal prosecution has been resolved, while the available reporting leaves some questions about the history between Osteen and Jones without a definitive court finding. What is established is that Jones was killed during the July 2025 daycare pickup, their two children were present, Osteen was arrested at the scene and the case ended nearly a year later with a negotiated disposition intended to keep her imprisoned for decades.

Author note: Last updated August 22, 2026.