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Deputies: Man fatally shoots ex-stepdaughter before killing himself near Cocoa

By WFTV Web Staff
By WFTV Web Staff
A woman is dead after being shot by her former stepfather who blamed her for his divorce from her mother Thursday, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said Amy Mitchell, 54, was shot multiple times in a home on Atoka Court near Knoxville Avenue and Geona Street in Cocoa. She was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center, where she later died.
Investigators said the suspect, 73-year-old Edwards Ratcliffe, drove to St. Johns County after killing Mitchell and killed himself.
Ratcliffe drove from his house in Georgia earlier Thursday morning to Mitchell's home before confronting her inside her home and then killing her, deputies said.
Ratcliffe called 911 in St. Johns County and told dispatchers he'd killed his step-daughter and was going to kill himself. When deputies arrived where he was, he shot himself.
Deputies said they responded to the Mitchell's home after receiving a 911 call from the home around 10:47, but when they arrived, they learned the shooter was already gone.
Resident Diane Mueller said she was afraid to walk outside of her home to get the mail after seeing deputies blocking her street with their guns drawn as they searched for the suspect.
Mueller said she’s lived in the neighborhood 29 years and it’s usually very quiet.
>>>Read more Brevard County stories<<<

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