Tampa father accused of shooting his children, killing 1, granted $2.5M bond

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa father accused of shooting his two children, killing his 5-year-old and critically injuring his 8-year-old, has been granted bond in the amount of $2.5 million. 

Investigators said Tuesday that Jermaine Lavanda Bass went into the bedroom of his two children – after their mother, Bass's wife Shirley, had kissed them goodnight – and shot the children multiple times in the head while they lay in their bunk beds. 

Bass did not appear for his bond hearing on Friday where prosecutors argued he presents a threat to the community and should be held without bond. 

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"There’s no reason for this man to execute and attempt to execute his children, and that supports the state's argument that this man is too unpredictable and too dangerous to walk the streets of Hillsborough County," said Hillsborough County prosecutor Ron Gale. 

But with no prior record and Bass' insistence that the shooting was an accident, Judge Catherine Catlin said the state failed to present enough evidence to deny bond. 

Booking image for Jermaine Lavanda Bass courtesy HCSO

"I’m finding that the state has not met its burden," said Catlin. "As much as I realize everybody will be shocked by that, I want it to be clear that I follow the law and I expect the state to prove what it puts in its motion. However, Mr. Bass’ bond will reflect the severity of these charges and my belief that the state did prove that there’s a substantial probability that he committed the crime." 

Authorities received a call from one of Bass' neighbors reporting they heard multiple gunshots the night of August 29. 

When deputies arrived at Bass' North Tampa townhome, they found his wife, Shirley, outside while he sat inside their home on his couch cradling his son, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. 

In court on Friday, detectives testified that the child was slipping in and out of consciousness while his father vacillated between calm and frantically asking for first responders to help his son. 

"I asked him what had happened, and he said the gun accidentally discharged," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Ranney told the courtroom. "He said he was trying to take the magazine out of the gun, and it just went off."

Detectives testified they recovered five rounds that all appear to have been fired from the same gun inside the children's bedroom. Bass' five-year-old daughter, Jaylah, was shot three times in the head. Eight-year-old Jermaine was shot in the left side of his head. According to detectives, a handgun belonging to Bass and recovered from his bedroom appears to be the gun used in the shooting.

"The firearm was compared to the five shell casings recovered in the room after being test fired, and it was identified as a match to all five shell casings recovered from the bunk beds in the children’s room," said homicide detective Michael Gabot. 

Scene of community in Tampa where two children were shot.

Gabot also told the court that 8-year-old Jermaine Bass has regained consciousness and has been upgraded from critical to stable condition. His doctors, however, have determined he is not yet well enough to speak to detectives. The child still has a bullet lodged in his skull.

Meanwhile, detectives said interviews with the children's mother, Shirley, have shed little light on what transpired the night of the shootings. 

While Shirley was home at the time of the shooting, detectives say she claims she was in another room and is not sure why her husband would want to shoot their children or whether she believes he did. 

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According to Gabot, Shirley Bass has reported in multiple interviews with detectives that there was no fight, nor anything out of the ordinary the day of the shooting. 

"She said during her first interview that she didn’t know what happened and had no idea how this could have happened or what happened at all. After being told that her husband was arrested for this offense, she still did not give a reason. She said that there were no arguments leading up to the incident," said Gabot. "Again, yesterday she maintained that she had no idea."  

Gabot also says she's so far dodged his requests to look at her phone to corroborate her account of what happened.

"I asked her about her phone on the 31st during our second interview. During that interview she said her phone was with a friend because they were pulling photos from it to prepare for Jaylah‘s funeral and that she would get me the phone yesterday, 9-1-22, and when I asked her for that phone yesterday, she said she didn’t have it because it was with her attorney," said Gabot. 

The family lived in Armature Gate Townhomes on Heritage Club Drive, north of the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus. Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister described the community as a "nice family neighborhood." 

There were no previous calls for service or emergencies at their home. The only people residing in the home were Bass, his wife, and two children.