Father free, police investigate fatal shooting

A Christmas Eve domestic dispute has left a daughter dead and her father recovering from multiple stab wounds.

While all now appears peaceful at 75 Bishop Hill Road – a meticulously kept home still decorated with Christmas wreaths and a statue of a dog wearing a Santa hat perched on the front steps – the residence was the scene of a tragedy last Saturday.

Around 3 p.m. that day, Johnston Police arrived on scene after an altercation between 28-year-old Jessica Sutherland of Providence and her father, 55-year-old Robert Sutherland, who lived at the residence, turned violent.

Police received a call of a stabbing and shooting at the address, with the victims laying outside in the front yard. According to police, Jessica had used a knife to stab Robert in the chest, and he then shot her.

“The officers secured the area and they were both transported to Rhode Island Hospital by the Johnston Fire Department,” said Deputy Chief Daniel Parrillo.

“She succumbed; he was admitted and was actually released Monday evening. He’s not in custody as of right now, there are no charges pending right now and the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Parrillo said department detectives are currently talking to witnesses trying to piece together what happened prior to the stabbing and shooting.

“They’re still working on that today. I just spoke with some of them today, and we are working with the attorney general’s department to decide if we’re moving forward with charges against Robert or not. That hasn’t been determined yet; it’s still part of the investigation,” he said. 

A handgun, with its make and model currently unknown, was recovered at the scene by the department’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, as was the knife that was used in the attack.

This was not the first time that Johnston Police had been called to the home. During the last four years, police responded to multiple issues at the address, although, according to Parrillo, none of them involved weapons.

“There’s been a history there; we’ve been there before for domestic situations. It was more physical, hand to hand, punching and grabbing,” he said.

Family members were home at the time of the incident, including Jessica’s daughter and her mother. According to Parrillo, it is believed that Jessica’s parents had custody of her daughter, who is a minor. 

“They were there. How much they saw or know of the incident I’m not sure,” said Parrillo.

Detectives have spoken with Robert since he’s been released from the hospital regarding the investigation.

“Obviously, he felt there was no other alternative than what he did, I guess,” said the deputy chief. “I don’t know what his mindset was; I don’t even want to put myself in his place. I don’t know what transpired up there prior to the state of altercation, but obviously it was something significant for an attack with a knife and a subsequent gunshot.”

Parrillo also added that Jessica was arrested by the Johnston Police last Thursday for outstanding court fines.

“She was walking on Hartford Avenue dressed in black and someone called us concerned because they couldn’t see her. We stopped her, identified her, ran her name through the system like we normally do and a court warrant with some fines came up,” said Parrillo. “We transported her to headquarters. She was very nice, very polite, answering ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir.’ Then she was released from court on Friday and Saturday was the incident.”

The incident is the second calamity to strike the neighborhood within the last month. A car crash, which claimed the lives of two, including 18-year-old Dylan Laurenzo of Johnston and Taylor Rielly, 18, of Coventry, occurred just two weeks ago at the end of the same street.

“Domestic violence is an issue that we deal with every day; it’s so sad, it’s hidden. It happens behind closed doors, there’s very few preventative measures that we can take to prevent domestic violence. People get together and something goes bad, and usually it doesn’t go to this extent where there are weapons involved,” said Parrillo. “There will be an argument and we’ll go and break up the argument and separate the parties. That’s how we normally handle a domestic situation. If there’s evidence of a crime, obviously we have to react and arrest. In this case it was a fatal outcome, a fatal encounter that was really, really sad.”

Several neighbors said that their interactions with the Sutherlands had always been cordial and that they were stunned by the events but wished the family well. With the incident occurring so close to the holidays, Parrillo said it was a difficult scene for all involved. 

“We try to do the best we can, and we intervene when we can, but sometimes we just don’t have that opportunity to make that difference and save a life,” he said.