ST. PETERSBURG, fla. — Twelve hours before police said John Jonchuck threw his 5-year-old daughter off a bridge, the father calmly told a sheriff’s deputy he was happy, didn’t want to hurt himself or his little girl and had “new clarity in his life.”
The officer had made a point of interviewing Jonchuck in person because Jonchuck’s own attorney called 911 to report that he was acting “strange.” The attorney, Genevieve Torres, said Jonchuck had called her “God” and asked her to translate a Bible in Swedish when they met Wednesday to talk about Jonchuck’s custody case for his daughter, Phoebe.
Police encountered Jonchuck again shortly after midnight Wednesday. He was going about 100 mph toward the Sunshine Skyway bridge. By the time an officer caught up with him, Jonchuck had pulled over.
Jonchuck grabbed Phoebe from the back seat and carried her to the railing, said St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway. It wasn’t clear whether Phoebe was alive when Jonchuck threw her into Tampa Bay about 60 feet below.
