The woman allegedly contacted 911 on Wednesday morning, October 9, to say that she had shot her son.
Police discovered 16-year-old Robert Florence inside the family’s Wichita, Kan., apartment “with a single gunshot wound,” according to a series of press releases from the Wichita Police Department.
According to an amended announcement, Robert was taken to the hospital in “extremely critical condition” and died from his injuries on Friday morning, Oct. 11.
His mother, Tesha La Sha Florence, 46, was booked into Sedgwick County Jail at 4:34 p.m. on the day of the shooting and charged with two charges of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated battery, with the battery charge carrying a $1,000,000.00 professional surety bond.
Following her son’s death, she was also charged with second-degree murder.
“This is a tragic incident that has forever altered a family,” Chief Joe Sullivan stated in his statement. “Gun violence affects our entire community and cannot be tolerated.”
Kurtis Florence, Robert’s older brother, said in a phone interview with PEOPLE that the adolescent was “just somebody you could trust.”
“He kept it genuine at all times,” Kurtis, 20, recalls. “He was always able to help you find your truth. People lie all the time, but he could see through it.” Kurtis describes the Wichita Northwest High School junior as “a force” in his neighborhood and a “very loving, caring young man.”
According to Kurtis, the family had been struggling financially for years, and their mother, Robert, and another brother had been staying at his Wichita apartment since the spring of 2022.
He claims his mother, who previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and raised her four sons as a single mother, was struggling financially in recent years and eventually got an evening manufacturing job paying $10 per hour.
With only one car in the family, the 20-year-old says he frequently drove his girlfriend to work, then brought his brothers to school before dropping off his mother at the factory and heading to his employment.
Robert was frequently late for school due to his long and expensive commute. With declining grades and attendance, the 16-year-old who had played junior varsity basketball his second year did not make the junior team.
Kurtis claims that on the morning of the shooting, Robert chose to stay at home since he did not have any clean clothes to wear.
Kurtis reports that after dropping off their other brother, he went home to the sound of sirens in his apartment.
“My mom wasn’t the type to go off the rail,” Kurtis says. Noting that his mother contacted 911 after the gunshot, he adds, “I’m convinced that it was an accident and that it wasn’t intentional.”
While investigating the East Harry Street apartment shooting, police said they discovered that Robert’s mother allegedly threatened her ex-husband and his current girlfriend with a gun earlier this year.
Police say the March 2024 event, which Kurtis claims he had no firsthand knowledge of, had not been reported.
According to Dan Dillon of the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, Tesha will appear in front of Judge Shawn Elliott for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 15 at 2:30 Central time.
Kurtis, who claims to have been forced out of his residence and is now living in a hotel, mourns his brother’s death while attempting to keep his family together.
On Tuesday afternoon, he told PEOPLE that he was seeking a lawyer to defend his mother.
“My mother raised brilliant, strong Black guys. “She told us who we are,” he tells PEOPLE about his decision to remain by his mother. “I’ve always tried to be strong for my mom.”
He has also created a GoFundMe page to help him bury his youngest brother, remembering Robert as “a cherished son, sibling, and friend, who touched the lives of so many with his kindness, humor, and generous spirit.”
“We are devastated by this loss and are trying to navigate life without him,” Kurtis wrote in the article.
Reference: Police Say Kan. Mom Fatally Shot Teen Son, Who Was Remembered by Brother as ‘Caring Young Man’