A Florida mother is accused of helping her son coordinate a shooting that killed the mother of his child inside a Home Depot, deputies say.
On Aug. 11, deputies and police responded to an active shooter inside a Pensacola Home Depot, according to a Facebook post from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said 20-year-old Keith Eric Agee walked into the store and fatally shot 18-year-old Brooklyn Sims, a contract employee of the store and his daughter’s mother, WEAR reported.
Two other employees also suffered minor injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.
Agee was taken into custody and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated battery, according to police and WEAR.
On Aug. 14, deputies announced Agee wasn’t working alone.
“According to text messages, it’s clear that Keith Agee’s mother, Sheila Agee, knew and participated in the plan to kill Brooklyn Sims,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “Additionally, text messages between mother and son highlight the mother’s involvement in helping locate the victim.”
The sheriff’s office shared a lengthy text conversation between Agee and his mother, in which Agee tells his mother he is going to shoot Sims, according to the release.
His mother doesn’t try to talk him out of it, but instead provides Sims’ location and says, “As long as you don’t shoot me,” the texts read in the release.
His mother said she’d send Agee the address of the Home Depot, then told him to delete the text messages, according to the release.
She also said Sims would be on the store floor and that Agee wouldn’t have to go searching for her “in the back,” the texts read.
His mother ended their text exchange with the message, “Do whatever you want to do. It don’t affect me either [expletive] way,” according to the release.
Agee’s mother was charged with principal to first-degree murder and was taken into custody in Alabama, deputies said.
“The murder itself is unbelievable, but to know the mother knew about it and helped coordinate it is incomprehensible,” Sheriff Chip W. Simmons said in the release.
She is expected to be extradited to Escambia County for prosecution.
Pensacola is about 360 miles west of Jacksonville.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 12:11 PM.
