A Marion County school teacher and her estranged husband are dead in an apparent murder-suicide, leaving three children behind.
Deputies spent the day Monday investigating inside the home in the remote area of Rainbow Lakes Estates.
The three children of Latalia Robinson, 32, and Dean Hamilton, 33, discovered their father was missing Sunday morning. The couple were going through a divorce and the kids were staying with their dad for the weekend at his friend’s house.
When that friend couldn’t reach either Hamilton or Robinson, he drove the children to their Water Oak Avenue home, where they found their parents dead in a bedroom. A pistol was nearby.
“There was no forced entry inside the house, so we believe it’s an act of domestic violence between the two of them," Marion County Sheriff's Office Capt. James Pogue said. "Right now our special investigations unit is working to determine the steps leading up to this and exactly what happened.”
Robinson was a biology teacher at West Port High School near Ocala. Court records show two days before Christmas, Robinson got a court order barring Hamilton from visiting the school or her home.
The children spent Monday with counselors, trying to help them cope with the tragedy.
“It’s the ultimate sin and it’s selfish to do that to your loved ones," neighbor Ken Wescott said. "I’ve had friends commit suicide and it always boggles my mind what’s going through their head that they are going to do such a selfish act.”
“It’s unfortunate, especially this time of year," Pogue said. "Husband and wife, someone that you’ve pledged yourself to for life, that it would end like this. Especially after you’ve created three children.”
The family had dogs, chickens and goats. Marion County Animal Control is working with friends of the family to make sure they are cared for. The children are staying with relatives of their mother.