Heartbreaking: One month old baby orphaned after both parents commit suicide

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Heartbreaking: One month old baby orphaned after both parents commit suicide. Credit: Facebook

Heartbreaking: One-month-old baby orphaned after both parents commit suicide.


HEARTBREAKING NEWS – A one-month-old baby has been left orphaned after both his parents commit suicide within days of each other. Both parents were St. Lucie County deputies.
Newborn Jayce Osteen has been left without his parents after his father, Deputy Clayton Osteen, was removed from life support Sunday, January 2 after being hospitalised while off-duty, after trying to take his own life shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve. Then two days later he lost his mother, Deputy Victoria Pacheco, who also took her own life.

Heartbreaking: One month old baby orphaned after both parents commit suicide
Victoria Pacheco committed suicide days after Clayton Osteen took his own life. Credit: Facebook

St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara announced the tragic news on Tuesday, January 4 via a written statement: “Words cannot express the tremendous loss we all feel after losing these two members of our sheriff’s office family.
“As sheriff, I saw these two deputies as young, ambitious, and a great compliment to my already amazing group of professionals,” Mascara wrote.
“While it’s impossible for us to fully comprehend the private circumstances leading up to this devastating loss, we pray that this tragedy becomes a catalyst for change, a catalyst to help erase the stigma surrounding mental well-being and normalise the conversation about the challenges so many of us face on a regular basis,” the sheriff added.
Pacheco gave birth to their son, Jayce, on November 22, the couple’s first child together.
According to a GoFundMe set up to help their baby, 24-year-old Osteen, and Pacheco, 23, were “joy-filled, first-time parents excited about their growing family, enamoured with their baby Jayce, and so in love with each other.”
“Tragically, for reasons completely unknown and totally out of character, Clayton took his own life on December 31, 2021. Reeling from the shock of loss, Victoria took her own life two days later.”
Clayton, who served in the United States Marine Corps, was named Deputy of the Year 2020 and was also a SWAT team member.
According to WPTV, both Clayton and Victoria had been commended for each saving two overdose drug victims’ lives on separate occasions in the past two years.
“Law enforcement deal with not only the day-to-day stress we all face but also the stress of those whom they serve in our community, which can sometimes be very challenging,” Sheriff Mascara said.


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Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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