Fla. dad charged with murder after allegedly throwing girl off bridge

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla. - The man police say threw his 5-year-old daughter off a bridge to her death has been charged with first-degree murder.

Police say they encountered 25-year-old John Jonchuck, Jr., just after midnight on Thursday when he sped past a St. Petersburg police officer in his PT Cruiser. According to a St. Petersburg Police statement, Jonchuck was going approximately 100 mph.

The officer turned his lights on and when Jonchuck pulled over at the Dick Misner Bridge, police say the officer saw him throw Phoebe Jonchuck into the water below. Jonchuck then allegedly sped off, and was apprehended about 30 minutes later - with an empty pink carseat in the back of his PT Cruiser.

Jonchuck is charged with first degree murder, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on a law enforcement officer.

CBS affiliate WTSP reports that police are uncertain whether the girl was alive when she went into the water but the Associated Press reports an official says the officer who witnessed the incident said he "thought he heard the child scream."

According to WTSP, police say the drop from the bridge to the water was approximately 60 feet and that dive teams found the girl in the water about a mile from the bridge. An autopsy is pending.

Jonchuck had custody of Phoebe at the time of her death and had filed a domestic violent claim against the girl's mother, 29-year-old Michelle Kerr, last month. The claim was thrown out. The station reports that Jonchuck had been living with his parents.

According to sheriff's documents, Jonchuck had been acting strangely in the hours before he allegedly threw his daughter off the bridge. His attorney, Geneveieve Torres, said she met with Jonchuck on Wednesday to discuss his daughter's custody case and during that meeting she says Jonchuck called her "God" and asked her to translate a Bible in Swedish.

Torres was so worried about Jonchuck and Phoebe that she reported the odd statements to police. They interviewed Jonchuck and his daughter as he was picking her up from a church day care and both appeared to be in good health. Jonchuck said he didn't want to harm himself or anyone else, the documents said.

"She was smiling and appeared healthy, properly clothed and happy," according to the documents.

A little more than twelve hours later, police said Jonchuck threw his daughter over a bridge.

WTSP reports Jonchuck has been arrested several times in the past, including for DUI in 2013 and domestic battery in 2008.

During a court appearance on Thursday, a judge asked Jonchuck whether he wanted an attorney.

"I want to leave it in the hands of God," Jonchuck said.