ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of dropping his 5-year-old daughter off a Tampa Bay bridge told doctors that voices urged him to kill the child.
Twenty-nine-year-old John Jonchuck is being treated at a state mental hospital as he awaits a March trial on first-degree murder charges in the death of Phoebe Jonchuck. Prosecutors say Jonchuck dropped the little girl into the water in January 2015.
The Tampa Bay Times reports new court files reveal Jonchuck told doctors the voices told him "everybody was going to go to hell" if he and Phoebe didn't die.
Jonchuck told psychiatrist Emily Lazarou these details during evaluations to determine his mental state. Another doctor, hired to assess Lazarou's methods, quoted them in a deposition that became public when it was filed in court.
