Shooter Confesses To Family Member Before Killing Himself

"GREEN COVE SPRINGS, FL — According to the Clay County Sheriff's Office, a man and a woman were found dead in a home in an apparent murder-suicide Friday afternoon.

"Members of the Clay County Sheriff's Office were called to the 2000 block of Knowles Road near County Road 315A in Green Cove Springs about 2:30 p.m.

"Family friends [said] Friday night Mark Herbert shot and killed his estranged wife, Julia, called a family member to tell them what he did and then shot himself.

"`I can't imagine what they're going through right now,` said a family friend. `They're not saying much, the little girls are crying and the older one can't really say anything because she is in shock.`

"Family friends and the family pastor [said] that Julia was a mother of four girls. Family friends said, the youngest daughter is a 4-year-old and she saw the killings. The pastor said the woman's oldest daughter, an 18-year-old, came home with her 9-year-old sister just after the shootings.

"`We've been in there praying and helping with them,` said the pastor, Ronnie Surrency."

From News4Jax.com...