Family identifies boys killed in double homicide in Putnam County

Family members have identified the two boys killed in a double homicide in Melrose on Wednesday morning as Tayten Baker, 14, and Robert Baker, 12. The incident happened on the 120 block of Shiloh Road.

On Thursday, Action News Jax Reporter Ryan Nelson spoke to the boys’ grandfather in an interview. He asked not to be identified.

He tells us the boys’ mother is his daughter. He recounted the events of Wednesday morning.

“They were very horrific events, you know, I woke up to my daughter frantic,” he said.

He says after the boys’ mother made the discovery on Wednesday morning, she drove to his house, which is in the same neighborhood, around 10:30 a.m.

The grandfather then says he and his wife drove to the scene on Shiloh Road separately, and his wife dialed 9-1-1 on the way. He tells Action News Jax his wife arrived at the home on Shiloh Road shortly before he did.

“Upon arriving there, my wife was standing in the doorway, she was on 9-1-1 ever since she left my house. So, she was still on the phone with them, she said, ‘I believe they’re deceased,’” he said.

He says he then went inside the house on Shiloh.

“I ripped the screen door open and I just screamed, ‘no,’ after I seen my grandson Robert, and my grandson Tayten was by the pool table, laying there,” he said. “And they were both deceased.”

The family told Action News Jax on Wednesday the boys’ mother, and a younger sibling, were at the home at the time of the killings, but were not injured.

Family members went on to say the boys’ father is a truck driver and was not home at the time, and investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday.

Putnam Deputies and FDLE investigated the crime scene at the family’s home for a second consecutive day on Thursday.

Investigators have not released a manner of death in the killings. Deputies say an autopsy confirmed the deaths as homicides, and the investigation remains active.

Family tells Action News Jax the boys and their parents moved into the home on Shiloh Road from Lakeland in recent weeks to be closer to relatives.

Deputies say the boys’ mother and father are fully cooperating with detectives and are not considered persons of interest.

Family members say the boys’ Aunt, and her boyfriend, were also living in the home. A Putnam Sheriff’s Office spokesperson tells Action News Jax they have been questioned as well.

On Wednesday, deputies called the deaths suspicious, and an isolated incident with no threat to the community. Deputies maintained Thursday the incident is considered to be isolated.

Deputies are asking anyone who may have seen suspicious activity in the area before 10:30 on Wednesday morning to contact their tip line at 386-329-0840.

Putnam deputies say more information will be released as it becomes available.

Cox Media Group