'I Took It Too Far': Florida Man Admits to Killing Girlfriend's 3-Year-Old Daughter, Mother Arrested For Negligence
A 32-year-old man from Marion County, Florida, confessed to detectives that he repeatedly hit a toddler, bound her hands and feet, and dropped her on the floor, after which she stopped breathing. He then waited 40 minutes before calling for help.
Jeroen Jarrel Coombs now faces a murder charge in the death of three-year-old Paisley Brown, who died Feb. 19, 2026, inside a Citra home.
Her mother, Jennifer Farrah Kendrick, 26, also sits in jail on child neglect counts, as she is accused of knowing about the abuse and doing nothing to stop it.
What deputies uncovered after walking into that home has now triggered a wider investigation involving multiple child witnesses, ages one to nine, who officials say lived in the home.
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| Paisley Brown |
On the morning of Feb. 19, 2026, Jennifer Farrah Kendrick left her home in the 16500 block of NE 44th Avenue in Citra around 9:15 a.m. to run errands, including a nail appointment.
She left her three-year-old daughter, Paisley Brown, in the care of her boyfriend, 32-year-old Jeroen Jarrel Coombs, and some other children between the ages of one and nine were also inside the home at the time.
Around 10:30 a.m., Kendrick reportedly spoke to Paisley and heard the child say "I love you," but just 30 minutes later, Coombs called Kendrick and told her Paisley was unresponsive. Despite being told her daughter was unresponsive at 11 a.m., Kendrick remained at the nail appointment until she was done, as per Law&Crime.
According to online reports, she did not return home until 11:40 a.m., and that was when 911 was called. When Marion County deputies responded to the scene around noon they found Paisley unresponsive with visible injuries, including bruising on her chest, bruising on her genital area, and marks on her wrists and ankles consistent with ligature restraint.
She was transported to a local hospital where she later died from her injuries, and the medical examiner ruled Paisley's death a homicide after determining that she died from blunt force trauma to the back of her head.
During the investigation, Coombs initially told deputies that Paisley was simply groggy when she woke up but when he was confronted about the visible injuries, he admitted to causing the injuries that led to her death.
Coombs told investigators that he tied Paisley’s hands with a robe tie and wrapped tape around her legs so she wouldn’t reach for her diaper during the night. He also admitted that he hit her several times while she was struggling to breathe and dropped her on the floor while she was restrained and gasping for air.
When asked why he did not call 911 immediately after Paisley became unresponsive, Coombs told deputies he was scared. A juvenile witness inside the home told also confirmed to deputies that Coombs hit Paisley and described prior instances of physical abuse against the child by Coombs.
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| Jeroen Jarrel Coombs |
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| Jennifer Farrah |
On March 4, 2026, Coombs was charged with murder without premeditation, an upgrade from the initial aggravated child abuse charge. He also faces additional counts of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child abuse without great bodily harm involving two other children.
Kendrick initially denied knowing anything about the abuse during her interview with police but detectives said she later admitted she knew Coombs had harmed her daughter and failed to intervene.
That admission, combined with the 40-minute gap between learning her child was unresponsive and calling 911, led to her arrest March 4 on two counts of felony child neglect.
Court records show Kendrick was already on probation for a previous offense, and with that probation now violated, a judge denied her bond on March 5.
Lt. Paul Bloom, who is leading the investigation for the Marion County Sheriff's Office, said the case against Kendrick remains open. Asked whether she could eventually face murder charges, Bloom didn't rule it out.
"The investigation isn't done," he said. "It's not out of the realm of possibility."
According to police reports, at least three children, possibly more, ranging from infants to a nine-year-old, lived in the same house of horror. The Florida Department of Children and Families has been notified, and the children have been moved to safety.
"We're talking to children," Bloom said. "Getting the story accurately accounted. I would say with some good probability, there may be some more charges coming."
The oldest child, he said, is nine years old. Through interviews, investigators are learning that the abuse Paisley suffered may not have been an isolated incident. Bloom described what they're uncovering as an environment of "violence, fear, and selfishness" — the same conditions that led to Paisley's death.
"Even though they lived in a home of violence, of fear, of selfishness, (my hope is) that they see that there's a community out there that did have love, did have concern for them and does care for them," Bloom said.
"We would have done everything in the world to stop it."
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