JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says a 22-year-old man shot and killed two women in San Marco last month, but died by suicide the day after the crime. Police identified Ty Head as the person who killed Paige Pringle, 28, and Tara Baker, 53, early on Aug. 9 at a railroad crossing in San Marco.
During a press conference Wednesday, Chief Alan Parker said police do not know exactly why the murders happened.
"When Head took his own life, he blocked the only avenue for investigators to conclusively answer this question," Parker said.
On the morning of Aug. 9, police say Head was driving behind Pringle in a gray Volkswagen Passat. Police say for an unknown reason, Head parked and exited his vehicle, shot and killed Pringle and Baker using a 9mm handgun, and fled the scene. It's unclear if Head knew the victims prior to the shooting.
JSO says Head then drove to Nashville, Tennessee the day after the murders and took his own life.
Police say investigators with the Wilson County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee confirmed Head died by suicide next to his vehicle using a 9mm handgun.
Forensics with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) confirmed the gun casings found at the scene of Head's suicide, matched the casings found at the scene of the double murder, Parker said. Wednesday morning, just before the press conference was held, ATF confirmed the gun Head used to take his own life was, in fact, the same weapon he used to kill Pringle and Baker.
Head did not have any prior criminal background, but police say he had a history of substance abuse, and was living in a "sober house for addiction" prior to the murders.
"While we cannot provide the deceased victim's family members with justice through the court system, it is our solemn hope that by providing them with some factual answers concerning these murders, we can impart to them some sense of people," Parker said.
First Coast News Crime Analyst Mark Baughman said this is a case JSO spent time, resources and effort on to track down the killer.
“That coupled with victimology, interviewing all the witnesses potentially in the area at the time of the crime leading up to and maybe afterwards takes an extensive amount of manpower and an extensive amount of investigative hours.”
He said substances abuse issues are common in criminal cases, not just homicides.
“Drugs have a way of causing people to do irrational things in a very split-second moment that result in terrible tragedies like this.”
JSO says more information will be released as it becomes available, as this investigation is ongoing.