Records confirm identity of Plant City mother, grandmother killed in quadruple homicide
Hailey Dempsey, 28, was killed Sunday along with two of her children and her mother, Valerie DeBoe, records show.
Hailey Dempsey, left, and her husband, Jay Dempsey, are seen in a screenshot of a public Facebook post from February 2025. Hailey Dempsey, two of her children and her mother were fatally shot in Plant City on Sunday, records show. [ Facebook ]
A woman who co-owns a Plant City home that was the site of one of two shootings that claimed the lives of four people, including two young children, is one of the victims in the case, the Tampa Bay Times has confirmed.
Hailey Dempsey, 28, was one of the two women fatally shot Sunday along with two of her children, ages 4 years and 4 months. Dempsey’s mother, 55-year-old Valerie DeBoe, was also killed.
The Plant City Police Department has not released the names of any of the four victims. The Times confirmed Dempsey and DeBoe were the two women killed by requesting a preliminary investigation report for both women from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office, providing their dates of birth and a date of death of May 3.
A county spokesperson on Friday denied the request, stating that Plant City police were actively investigating a case involving the two women.
Hailey Dempsey and her husband, Jay Dempsey Jr., own a home in the 900 block of North Burton Street, where one of the shootings occurred, records show.
Tampa attorney Patrick B. Courtney told the Times on Friday that he is acting as a spokesperson for Jay Dempsey and his side of the family.
“The family has no comment at this time and has faith in the law enforcement investigation,” Courtney said.
The Times was not able to immediately reach family members of Hailey Dempsey and DeBoe on Friday.
Soon after the shootings, word began to spread in the community and on social media that Hailey Dempsey and two of her children were victims in the case. But by Friday, five days had passed without official confirmation from the Plant City Police Department.
The agency has released no information about the case beyond what was included in a brief news release issued Monday. The release did not identify the four victims or provide information about whether investigators have identified a suspect.
The Times submitted a list of questions to the agency on Thursday. A spokesperson had not provided any answers as of Friday morning but issued a news release that provided no new information.
“Detectives continue to conduct interviews, review forensic evidence and analyze all aspects of the investigation,” the release said. “At this time, no final determination regarding the circumstances surrounding these deaths has been made. Based on the information developed thus far, detectives do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the community.
“The department asks the public to avoid speculation while investigators continue to follow the evidence and complete a thorough review of the facts,” the release said. “Additional information will be released as appropriate.”
According to information previously released by police, officers responded Sunday to a disturbance in the 300 block of West Tever Street and found three people who had been shot. A 4-month-old and a 4-year-old child died at the scene. Their mother, 28, was alive when officers arrived and died at a local hospital. A third child was found uninjured.
During the investigation, police were led to a second location in the 900 block of North Burton Street, where they found the mother of the 28-year-old woman dead from a gunshot wound. She was 55.
According to the Monday release, investigators believe one of the women walked with the three children between the two locations on Sunday morning. Police asked residents and businesses in the area to check for surveillance footage captured between 5:30 and 7 a.m. Sunday showing the woman and three children.
Hailey Dempsey and her children attended Cleveland Street Baptist Church in Lakeland, according to a post made Wednesday on the church’s Facebook page. The post, which included a photo of Dempsey with three of her children, was later deleted.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our sister in Christ, Hailey Dempsey, along with two of her children … and her mother,” the post said. “Though our hearts are filled with sorrow and we struggle to find the right words, we hold fast to the hope and comfort that they are now in the presence of our Savior.”
Property records show the Dempseys purchased the three-bedroom home on Burton Street in 2022.
Two days before the shootings, police responded to a domestic call at the home, records show.
DeBoe, who is listed in the report only as Hailey Dempsey’s mother, called Plant City police about 6:30 p.m. about a possible domestic dispute between her daughter and son-in-law, according to a police report. DeBoe was not at the couple’s Burton Street home at the time, the report shows.
Hailey and Jay Dempsey told an officer who responded to the house that they had been yelling at each other during an argument but that it did not escalate to physical contact.
“Hailey stated the verbal dispute was in regards to Jay being caught watching porn and cheating on Hailey,” the report states. “Jay became upset after admitting to it, which made Hailey want to leave the residence with their three children.”
The officer did not see any injuries on either of the Dempseys. The officer was still there when DeBoe arrived and left with Hailey Dempsey and her children in Dempsey’s car, according to the report.
A records request for calls for service to the address do not show any other domestic-related calls since the couple purchased the home.
Anyone with information on the case can call the department at 813-763-3316.
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