POLK COUNTY, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office shared a statement Saturday on the shooting deaths of a pregnant woman and a man the night prior in a neighborhood near Winter Haven, addressing it as a domestic-related double murder suicide.
The man — identified as Riley Groover, 26 — is accused of shooting the 21-year-old woman multiple times before turning the gun on himself “outside in a neighborhood in front of several witnesses,” what reportedly occurred just after 7 p.m. Friday near a home along Central Avenue West in the Inwood area. Despite first responders’ efforts, as well as that of hospital medical staff, the baby was unable to be saved, the statement reads.
Family members told investigators that the two were a couple whose arguments in the past had turned violent at times, yet none of the incidents were ever reported to authorities. Groover himself had arrests on record in reported cases of aggravated assault and domestic violence, the statement added.
“This was a violent and horrific double murder that ended the lives of a 21-year-old woman who was 8 months pregnant, and her unborn baby. When the suspect became enraged, family members and neighbors did everything they could to help her get away from him. Please keep this family in your prayers,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in the release.
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No other information was shared. News 6 is awaiting the official report and will update this story when it’s recieved.
Victims of domestic violence can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline, available 24 hours a day at 800-799-7233.
Harbor House of Central Florida offers a 24-hour confidential crisis hotline, reachable at 407-886-2856.
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