Phoebe Jonchuck: Police Confirm Girl Thrown Over Bridge Was Alive, Mom Reacts To Daughter’s Death

Phoebe Jonchuck, the 5-year-old Florida girl thrown over a bridge Thursday morning by her father, was alive when it happened. St. Petersburg police initially believed that the girl was alive when Jon Johnchuck threw her over Dick Misener Bridge, but they weren’t able to confirm it with certainty.

News Channel 8 reports that preliminary evidence finds that the girl was still alive as she fell 62 feet to her death. Police haven’t released any more details.

Jonchuck, 25, of Tampa, is in police custody and is being charged with first-degree murder, aggravated fleeing, and eluding and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer. He was said to be acting erratically in the days leading up to Phoebe’s death and giving off eerie vibes to anyone he spoke with before murdering his daughter.

Ninety minutes after Phoebe was thrown into the water, her body was found by Eckerd College’s Search and Rescue Team. She was located about a mile from where investigators thought she fell into the water. As Inquisitr reported, Phoebe had a fear of water and wasn’t able to swim.

Phoebe’s mother, Michelle Kerr, reacts to her death by telling the Tampa Bay Times that she wishes her ex-boyfriend would’ve thrown her over the bridge instead of their daughter.

“Why couldn’t he have done it to me? All I could think of was he loved her so much. Why? Why?”

Ironically, Kerr says she “never feared” for Phoebe’s safety, even when she wasn’t allowed to see her during bitter custody fights with Jonchuck.

“I never feared for her safety. I knew from the times that I wasn’t allowed to see her that she was in the arms of somebody safe. … He’s not mentally stable, but he was stable enough to take care of a child for five years.”

Phoebe’s parents have a series of violent domestic disputes between them for the six years they were together. They never married, but were together a few years during Phoebe’s early years before things turned ugly fast. Kerr further shares that Jonchuck was bipolar and was on medications like Seroquel, Zoloft, and others. She calls him a “Jekyll and Hyde all the way.”

Authorities report that over the course of numerous times they responded to the couple’s domestic violence calls, Jonchuck was often the aggressor. Authorities did call Kerr’s fitness as a mother into question, as well.

Detectives are interesting in speaking with anyone who can help them with establishing a timeline leading up to the 5-year-old’s death. They specifically want to know anything that happened the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, January 7. Those who can offer information in this case are asked to call Detective Kenneth Miller at (727) 892-5916, or text SPPD and the information to TIP411.

[Photo Credit: Bay News 9]