HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. — The Hendry County Sheriffs responded to a call at 378 Clark Street in LaBelle about a possible murder.
The daughter of Branty and Lea Burnside called police after her father confessed to shooting her mother.
When Hendry County Deputies arrived on the scene, Mr. Burnside came out of the house with his hands up, surrendering to deputies.
Burnside told deputies that he and Lea have been arguing and it intensified, that’s when he shot her.
“This is just an extremely, extremely sad situation, and one of the problems that we are a community that we have in a case like this is there’s no explanation, there’s no reason, there’s no why,” said Sheriff Steve Whidden, Hendry County.
Lea Burnside was a teacher at Labelle Middle School for nine years, those Fox 4 spoke with say her tragic death is a loss to the community.
“Big loss and the loss is to the community, the sorrow is on the hearts of the students both current and past students, her colleagues are very upset,” said Paul Puletti, School Superintendent, Hendry County.
Now remembering what impact she made on the students she taught , “she was extremely innovative in the way that she presented her material,” said Paul Puletti, School Superintendent, Hendry County.
“The children that she taught are seriously impacted, they are hurting, a lot of her colleagues are hurting.” Sheriff Steve Whidden, Hendry County.
Puletti says the school has been providing grief counseling for those in need.
On Monday, September 30th, teachers will be wearing purple in honor of Lea’s favorite color. It's the color that also represents domestic violence. National Domestic Violence Awareness month is in October.
Branty Burnside, 61 was arrested on charges of 2nd-degree murder for the death of his wife.
Burnside is being held in the Hendry County Jail with no bond.
