Starke, Florida — A Florida mother who fatally shot her children’s father outside a daycare while he was picking them up was seen smiling in court as she was sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Mindy Osteen, 34, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and related firearm charges in the July 2025 killing of Christopher Travis Jones, 37. She was sentenced last week in Bradford County.

Surveillance footage captured Osteen arriving at Auntie Lili’s Childcare Center, initially hugging Jones and their two young sons. After Jones placed the children in his vehicle and sat in the driver’s seat, Osteen pulled a gun from her backpack and fired multiple shots into the car. Jones fled toward the daycare but was unable to get through a security door and was shot several more times. Osteen was heard saying, “Please, let the monster die” and “You got to die.”

Jones identified Osteen as the shooter before he died at the hospital. Neither child was injured. They have since been adopted by an unrelated family.

Osteen surrendered to police, claiming self-defense. At her sentencing hearing, she appeared in a yellow jumpsuit and handcuffs, smiling as the 100-year prison term was imposed. She was also ordered to have no contact with Jones’ family.

Jones’ great-aunt Phyllis Sands said, “I hope she never has the ability to be back out on the street because she is a very, very dangerous person.”

Sources:

• New York Post