On July 16, Billy Jacobson proudly shared an adorable photo of his son, and gushed over the “sweet and funny personality,” of the baby who just turned nine months old.
Less than one week later, Jacobson is grieving the tragic death of his boy, who along with his brother and sister were killed by their mother, before she turned the gun on herself, ending a three-hour stand-off with police. Keep reading to know more…
On the afternoon of July 20, a police officer was driving by a home in Verdigris, Oklahoma when he noticed fireworks coming from a house, triggering the thought that “there was something wrong.”
Verdigris Police Chief Jack Shackelford explained that the officer saw a Roman candle being shot through a broken window in a garage door at the house and stopped to investigate, but not before calling for backup.
Police said the unidentified woman was with some children and was bringing them to the home for a supervised visitation. This is when the mother who was to be supervised held her at gunpoint, took her baby inside and locked the others in the garage with the other two children.
The woman fired the Roman candle to attract attention for help.
After the three were rescued from their temporary prison, several emergency teams responded, including the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service’s SWAT team that engaged the 39-year-old woman, Brandy McCaslin, in negotiations to minimize the risk of harm.
But hopes of a peaceful resolution were gone when McCaslin went silent, ending the three-hour standoff.
Police entered the house and found the mother, and three children–11-year-old Noe, six-year-old Bryce, and 9-month-old Billy–dead from gunshot wounds.
According to the Facebook site of Billy Jacobson, little Billy’s dad, he was separated from McCaslin, whom he said had tried to commit suicide in January. Jacobson, whose social media shows his partner as Camron Fennel, claims that McCaslin was angry when he refused to reconcile their romantic relationship, going so far as to change the baby’s name.
He writes, “There’s something I want everyone to be clear about. When brandy McCaslin tried to commit suicide in January. She tried to change my son’s name because she was mad at me because I wasn’t coming back to her.” The post continued, “I never stopped calling him anything but that and it was wrong of her to do so. Out of respect to me and my son, who had no choice in the loss of his life due to his mother. Please do not refer to my child as anything but Billy. He deserves that.”
Fennel, who appears in many photos with Billy and “my baby Billy Boy,” shared her anger and grief in a Facebook post.
“Our hearts are shattered into a million tiny pieces. I can’t believe our precious 9 month baby boy is really gone.” Fennel’s post continues, “How in the hell can a “mother” be so selfish and evil to take the lives of her 3 innocent babies. Burning in hell for an eternity is not enough punishment for her!!”
Jacobson has been also very vocal on social media, expressing his concern over the system that he said put his children in danger.
In a video discussing the events and tragic death of his sweet baby boy, Jacobson shares his current fight to give fathers more rights. He says, “Fathers’ rights are a dear subject to me, I’ve dealt with it for years now…” Describing the late McCaslin’s struggles with mental health, he continued, “their mother had an incident in January where she had attempted suicide and I took her to court. I got emergency custody and the system failed me. It basically helped her even though she didn’t have an attorney, had multiple issues with mental health and suicide, and put my kids right back in the care of somebody (the courts) knew would injure my kids and if it wasn’t for that, my son would be here in my arms right now.”
Lucretia Pitre, a family friend who lived in the home, said McCaslin–who was raised by her grandmother–had a great deal of loss in recent years, including the deaths of her sister, mother, uncle and grandparents, deaths involving cancer, suicide and a drug overdose.
Pitre said that the mother, only a few days before, had posted a photo of herself and little Billy on Facebook. She said, “she was so happy,” but “I could tell by her face that she was struggling with something. I mean she just looked sad.”
Speaking with a local news station at the home, where police processed the crime scene through the night, Pitre shares, “I’m just at a loss for words. My heart’s just like–I don’t know. I’m just numb right now.”
Meanwhile, Jacobson is on a mission, his tragic loss a catalyst to reform laws.
“The wheels are spinning, everybody. I have somebody going to the capital…They’re going to go approach some of the senators and representatives to see who would be willing to back us on enacting a bill!” The July 24 post continues, “It can’t happen until February to May of next year because that’s when they meet again to enact laws but it looks very promising! Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. If we work together we can make this where it cannot happen again.”
The cyber community jumped in with praise for the father, offering their love and condolences. “Using your trauma to impact others for the good is absolutely admirable,” writes one while another said, “So freaking amazing ty for leading this fight forward, many lives will be saved.”
The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation and the Verdigris Police Department are jointly investigating the horrific incident that led to the death of three precious children.
“This is heartbreaking…This family’s seen a lot, you know. Mental health has…I feel like just really, really, really affected this family when it comes to that and substance abuse,” Pitre said. “…I just can’t believe she took the kids. I don’t know. I just don’t understand it.”
And only four days before the distressing incident, Jacobson posted a cute photo of little Billy, who’s wearing a navy blue onesie that reads, “high five me.”
Jacobson writes, “Can’t believe that my baby boy is 9 months old today! Baby Billy LOVES to eat, says Daddy all the time and is a crawling all over the place!! He has such a sweet & funny personality.”
A GoFundMe, that as of Monday raised $1,174 of the $10,000 goal, is organized to help cover funeral and other expenses.
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We cannot imagine the heartbreak that Billy Jacobson must be experiencing right now. It’s terribly sad that those three children were killed and denied a future because their mother didn’t have the support she needed to help her manage her mental illness. It’s great that Jacobson is powered by his trauma to make change and we hope that his voice is heard.
Please share this story and let others know what and why Jacobson is on this mission!
