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St. Petersburg man shoots, kills 9-year-old son, then himself, police say

The bodies of Kevin Bybee and his son, Andres Chateau, were found in Bybee’s apartment after the child’s mother contacted management at the complex when she couldn’t reach them.
 
Police believe 44-year-old Kevin Bybee shot and killed his 9-year-old son, Andres Chateau, above, before turning the gun on himself.
Police believe 44-year-old Kevin Bybee shot and killed his 9-year-old son, Andres Chateau, above, before turning the gun on himself. [ Courtesy of St. Petersburg Police Department ]
Published April 4, 2022|Updated April 4, 2022

The bodies of a St. Petersburg father and his 9-year-old son were found in the man’s apartment Monday morning, and authorities say it looks like the man shot and killed his child before turning the gun on himself.

A woman went to the Trellis at the Lakes apartment complex, located at 11401 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, around 6:20 p.m. Sunday to pick up her 9-year-old son, Andres Chateau. The child had spent the weekend with his father, 44-year-old Kevin Bybee, said St. Petersburg police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez.

Bybee did not return the woman’s calls or answer her knocks on the door, so she called the police, Fernandez said. However, when officers arrived at Building 39 on Sunday night, they did not observe any signs of foul play at Apt. 3913 and had no reason to believe the child was in danger at the time, Fernandez said.

The boy’s mother contacted the complex’s management about her concerns Monday morning and they went to Bybee’s apartment, police said in a news release. They unlocked the door and found the bodies of Bybee and Chateau, then called police around 9:45 a.m. Monday, the agency said.

Officers’ preliminary investigation indicated that Bybee shot Chateau, then himself, police said.

The deaths mark at least the sixth suspected murder-suicide this year in Tampa Bay, after a spate of killings throughout January and February.

On Feb. 11, Pasco deputies said a preliminary investigation indicated that a father had shot his adult son, then himself at a home in the Trinity West neighborhood — the second apparent murder-suicide in that neighborhood that week. Deputies did not release either of the men’s names or ages in the Feb. 11 shooting.

Just a few days earlier, on Feb. 9, Pinellas deputies found the bodies of Frances “Darlene” Neubert, 73, and Jeffrey Dinyer, 51, in a mobile home at the Lake Haven Mobile Home Park in Dunedin. They said it appeared that Dinyer shot Neubert before shooting himself.

On Feb. 6, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said they believed a man shot and killed his wife, then himself in the Trinity West neighborhood. The Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office and friends of the couple identified them as Bihn and Tina Pham.

On Jan. 29, authorities said Daniel Leyden, a detective with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, shot Abigail Bieber, a Hillsborough deputy with whom he was romantically involved, while the two were on vacation with friends in St. Augustine.

And Pasco sheriff’s deputies reported on Jan. 12 that a man entered his home in Land O’ Lakes and found the bodies of his wife and their two young children after what authorities described as an apparent murder-suicide.

Need help?

If you are in immediate danger from domestic violence, call 911. The Florida Coalition of Domestic Violence can be reached at 800-500-1119 or via TDD at 800-621-4202. Here’s how to reach Tampa Bay’s domestic violence agencies for help:

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Hillsborough County: Call or text The Spring of Tampa Bay’s 24-hour crisis line at 813-247-7233 or visit online at thespring.org. The TTY line is 813-248-1050.

Pasco County: Contact Sunrise of Pasco County via its 24-hour hotline at 1-888-668-7273 or 352-521-3120, or go online at www.sunrisepasco.org.

Pinellas County: Contact Community Action Stops Abuse, or CASA, by calling the 24-hour hotline at 727-895-4912, texting casa-stpete.org/chat or visiting casapinellas.org. The TTY line is 727-828-1269.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay can be reached by dialing 211 or by visiting crisiscenter.com.

This is a developing story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates.