The mother of an 11-year-old girl from Kentucky who was shot dead by her father in a murder-suicide this week was on the phone with her and heard the child's anguished last words moments before gunfire erupted on the other end of the line.
Police say 49-year-old US Army Lt Colonel John Jonas gunned down his daughter, Tasha, and then turned the gun on himself outside their Vine Grove home Monday night.
Tanja Manojlovic, a friend of Tasha's mother, Karina Jonas, said the woman, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, called her ex-husband on the night of the tragedy and heard her 11-year-old daughter's last words: 'Daddy, daddy, what are you doing?’
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According to the friend, Tasha moved to Kentucky with her father two years ago after a family court judge granted John Jonas, a high-ranking Army officer serving at Fort Knox, full custody of his daughter following a protracted legal fight.
But her mother, a native of Uzbekistan, continued to fight for custody. Manojlovic said Karina Jonas was convinced her daughter was in danger and repeatedly attempted to warn lawyers, the military and court officials in Kentucky and Virginia of the perceived threat.
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Police have not released an official motive behind the murder-suicide, but friends and neighbors said John Jonas was concerned about a court hearing in Virginia that was scheduled for August 19.
By that time, Tasha would have turned 12 and could choose whom to live with.