Courtesy photo. Craig Leron Flynt, the son of a Daytona Beach police officer, shot and killed the mother of his four children in August, pumping the final bullet into her head with a .357 Magnum as police arrived. He was later sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Craig Leron Flynt, 37 and the son of a Daytona Beach police officer, stood above his fallen ex-girlfriend and mother of his four young children pumped a second bullet into her head across the street from her Maley Street residence just after midnight on Aug. 4.
The children saw their mother die from a nearby window. The second firing of the gun into Kyishi Dowdell's head was witnessed by cops and as they drew their guns, Flynt put his gun to his own head and pulled the trigger, but there were no more bullets. He had said aloud before turning the .357 Magnum on himself that he intended to kill himself.
The 31-year-old victim was shot three times at close range. The initial shot was through her front door. Among myriad 9-1-1 calls made to police was by the victim's 11-year-old son, who told the operator: "Somebody's trying to shoot my momma."
Because it was dark, the children didn't initially know the shooter was their own father. Flynt pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October in a plea deal that netted him life in prison. His father is Jimmie Flynt, a Daytona Beach police officer and department spokesman.
Dowdell had an 18-year-old boyfriend, who left the home just before the shooting. Why Flynt, who was wanted at the time for on a warrant charging him with violation of probation for domestic battery, killed his former girlfriend was never publicly revealed. Relatives said they believed she went outside so her children wouldn't be harmed.