An argument between a daughter and mother over the mom's boyfriend smoking in the house prompted the man to fatally shoot the 15-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother Tuesday night, police said.
Della Jette and her brother, Sterling Jette Jr., were rushed to Waterbury Hospital after the shooting in their home in Watertown on Tuesday night. They were pronounced dead shortly after their arrival, police said.
Their mother's boyfriend, Paul W. Ferguson, 42, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Ferguson, who had been dating their mother, Danielle Jette, about two years, had just moved into the house a few weeks earlier.
The teens attended W.F. Kaynor Technical School in Waterbury, police said, and “have close ties to the Watertown and Woodbury school communities.”
Friends built a memorial to the teens in the snow outside a Main Street shop and gathered at an impromptu candlelight vigil there Wednesday evening. A few miles away, more family and friends gathered for a separate vigil at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Thomaston.
An argument, then gunfire
According to police, the mother and daughter were upstairs before the shooting arguing about Ferguson's habit of smoking cigarettes indoors. The argument got loud, and Ferguson, who was downstairs watching TV, came up and told Della Jette not to talk to her mother like that.
He went to a bedroom and returned with a Glock handgun, Chief John Gavallas said. When the son tried to intervene, Ferguson shot him in the leg, Gavallas said.
The mother went to call 911, and while she was on the phone, Ferguson shot her daughter in the chest on the back deck, the chief said. Ferguson then went into the house and shot the son in the chest, he said.
"This mother is completely distraught. Her boyfriend moved into the house two weeks ago for the holiday season. And he is gone, and her two children are gone." — Chief John Gavallas
Ferguson went into a bedroom and shot himself in the head, according to police. The mother, who was not injured, is cooperating with investigators.
She did CPR on her daughter, but Della didn't respond, the chief said.
“These domestic incidents can turn violent so quickly,” Gavallas said. “It’s extremely unfortunate we're dealing with two young victims. And this mother is completely distraught. Her boyfriend moved into the house two weeks ago for the holiday season. And he is gone, and her two children are gone.”
Suicide 3 years earlier
Police said the last time they responded to the house was three years ago, when Danielle Jette's husband, Sterling Jette, fatally shot himself after what police described as a "minor" domestic dispute between the two.
Ferguson was convicted of first-degree unlawful restraint after a 2007 arrest by Waterbury police on a sexual assault charge, police said. Because he was convicted of a felony, he was not supposed to have a gun, they said.
Danielle Jette didn't know he had the gun, police said. There were other guns in the house, but they were locked in a safe.
Ferguson also has a third-degree larceny conviction for a 2014 Naugatuck theft. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, court records show.
In addition, he has convictions for two traffic offenses: evading the scene of a crash in 2012, for which he paid a fine, and operating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs in 2016, for which he was given a suspended sentence, the records show.
Investigation ongoing
The investigation of the apparent double-murder-suicide continues. In addition to Watertown detectives, state police and employees from the Waterbury State's Attorney's Office and state medical examiner's offices are working on the case.
Members of the state police Western District Major Crime Squad continued to collect evidence from the scene Wednesday morning. Crime scene tape cordoned off the front yard while they worked.
“The deaths of these children is a tragedy for our whole community, and the police department extends our deepest sympathy to the victims mother, family and friends,” Detective Mark Conway said.
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