FORT PIERCE, Fla. - People in a Fort Pierce neighborhood are still coming to terms with the gruesome crime that happened in their community. Fort Pierce Police think 25 year old Christopher Covington shot and killed his girlfriend, 22 year old Stephanie Carrier, and her mother, 48 year old Robin Carrier, before turning the gun on himself. It happened Friday night on Quincy Avenue around seven o’clock. Neighbors are most concerned about the youngest victim, the couple’s three year old daughter, who survived.
"I came out here and I saw all that and I thought 'what in the world is going on?' " said Jacklyn Santos, who lives down the street.
Just a few houses away, three bullets had punched their way out of Stephanie Carrier's home, a contamination warning is posted on the front door and crime scene tape is wadded up in the trash. They’re all signs of what happened Friday night and not what anyone in this Fort Pierce neighborhood is used to seeing.
"I thought I heard a noise,” said Santos. “I thought someone was banging on the Dumpster. I didn't know what it was."
Fort Pierce Police were called to the house in the 500 block of Quincy Avenue after someone reported hearing five gunshots. Inside, officers found Christopher Covington shot to death in the garage. They think he shot and killed Stephanie Carrier and Robin Carrier in the kitchen, before killing himself.
"I talk to her and her mom every day and I'm still kind of blown away,” explained Jamie Carter, “really blown away."
Carter lives next door. Her little boy plays with Stephanie Carrier's three year old daughter. She said she knew the couple fought; however, she never expected this.
"It was just bickering,” she said. “It never sounded like it was that out of control."
Police say the Department of Children and Families has custody of the little girl. She was not physically harmed, but neighbors worry about what will happen to her now.
"The poor little girl has nobody left,” said Santos. “Her parents are gone and that's sad. Every child needs a mom and a dad or a parent figure. I just pray for that little child.”
“I just can’t believe that they’re gone,” added Tara Alix, who also lives in the neighborhood. “The little girl doesn’t have any parents because he killed her mother and then killed himself. I’m just in shock right now because they’re all dead.”
There’s another twist to this sad story. Fort Pierce Police confirmed Stephanie Carrier was pregnant and due to welcome a new baby into the home very soon. They arrested Covington in January for aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. They said Stephanie Carrier was that woman.
"It's sad,” said Carter’s mother, Ginger Phillips. “There are not three lives gone. There are four, because she was so far along."
Fort Pierce Police are still investigating. If you have any information about what happened, call (772) 461-3820 .
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