GUILTY VA - Kayla Reynolds, 13, shot to death, Spotsylvania County, 22 Aug 2007

http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2007/082007/0821spotsy

Date published: 8/21/2007
A man (picture at link) fatally shot his 13-year-old daughter and shot his 19-year-old stepdaughter in the chin early this morning in Spotsylvania County, authorities say.
Police responded at 1:09 this morning to Belfonte Road for a report of shots fired.
The first deputy to arrive was met by a 19-year-old woman who said her stepfather had shot her and her 13-year-old stepsister.
The 19-year-old had a gunshot wound on her chin and was bleeding heavily. The younger girl was lying dead on the front porch with a single gunshot to the back of her head.

More articles here:
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08222007/310558

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08232007/310902

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08232007/310957

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08242007/311409

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/092007/09012007/312702

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/092007/09022007/311919


Her mother had died about 4 years ago so she moved in with her dad according to this article:
http://www.gastongazette.com/onset?id=9083&template=video.html
Lewis Hague, a relative living with Butch and Kayla Reynolds, said he witnessed the shootings on the front porch at about 1 a.m. Hague said Butch Reynolds shot the girls after they confronted him about smoking crack, according to an article in The Free Lance-Star.

Butch Reynolds was put on probation in 1995 after being convicted of driving while impaired in Mecklenburg County.

And Virginia authorities reported that he was being investigated by the Department of Social Services in Virginia.

Lineberger said Butch Reynolds is an extremely troubled man.

“I really didn’t think it would ever go that far,” Lineberger said. “I knew she was in a bad situation. We had no clue the situation had gotten as bad as it was.”

County social workers were investigating:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/news/policebeat.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-23-0163.html

Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely said the county Department of Social Services "had an open investigation going" at the household in response to a neighbor's concerns. "I think they had been out to the house on more than one occasion," Neely said of social workers.

Well, it's too late now. :furious:

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=6983922
Now The Free Lance-Star is reporting that less than three weeks before the girl was fatally shot, she wrote a poem almost predicting her death. The first six lines read:

"Shoot and end me now.
Don't ask why and don't ask how.
Shoot me dead, that's all you have to do.
Someone'll do it, so why not you.
Big words for a girl who's thirteen.
But it'll surprise me if I turn eighteen."

The newspaper reports the poem was given to them by family members who found it beside the teen's bed. Kyla's father, Earl Reynolds, is charged with first degree murder.

So unbelievably tragic.

God rest her soul.

This is horrible, if CPS or Social Services there had removed those girls as soon as they got complaints, this could have been avoided. With a crack smoking alcoholic father, what more grounds do they need to remove the children? If Kayla had written that poem prior, maybe the father threatened to shoot her on a regular basis.
He should be charged with 1st degree murder and 2 counts of attempted murder as the 19 year old was pregnant. My prayers for the girls and their family.
So many murders could have been avoided if cps had done their job right..

That's awful. I wonder if "dad" had been threatening to shot the girl for awhile. Poor thing. It's a real shame and tragedy that no one helped her out of this situation before it was too late.

This just makes me sick. CPS made him get rid of cats but left the daughter there to deal with him? I hope heads roll over this one.

Reynolds was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison:

http://webmedia.newseum.org/newseum-multimedia/tfp_archive/2008-08-28/pdf/VA_FLS.pdf