A Florida mom who shouted “let the monster die” as she gunned down her ex as he picked up their kids from daycare was seen smiling in court even as she was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
Mindy Osteen, 34, will die behind bars for mercilessly gunning down Christopher Travis Jones, 37, outside Auntie Lili’s Childcare Center in front of their two sons in the small town of Starke, WCJB reported.
The murderous mom was seen grinning at her sentencing hearing while in cuffs and a yellow jumpsuit.
Osteen had shown up unexpectedly at the daycare in July 2025 — and initially gave Jones and their two sons a hug.
But as soon as the dad loaded the kids into the back of his car and hopped in the driver’s seat, Osteen whipped out a gun from her backpack and fired three shots into the vehicle.
Jones ran out screaming and tried to run for cover inside the daycare. But he was unable to get through a second security door and was hit several more times before the gun jammed.
“Please, let the monster die,” Osteen was heard saying on surveillance footage.
“You got to die,” she was heard telling Jones. “Chris, you can’t kill my kids,” she was heard telling him — to which he replied, “I’m not killing nobody.”
The dad was still alive when deputies arrived, and he identified Osteen as the shooter. She gave herself up without incident, telling police, “I’m right here y’all. I done it in self-defense.”
Jones later died at the hospital from his wounds.
Neither of their young sons were hurt, and have since been adopted by a woman not related to Jones or Osteen’s family, WSAZ reported.
Osteen avoided going to trial after she pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, several firearm-related charges, and discharging a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school and shooting into a vehicle.
She was sentenced last week to a total of 100 years in prison and was ordered to have no contact with Jones’ family.
“I hope she never has the ability to be back out on the street because she is a very, very dangerous person,” Jones’ great-aunt Phyllis Sands told WSAZ.
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