JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax learned that two people who were found dead in Beach Haven earlier this week were part of a murder-suicide.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a battery in progress call at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday evening. When they arrived, they said they found two people dead.
Through the victim’s attorney, we know that those two people were Heather and Lloyd Dahlen. Stephanie Sussman, the attorney, says they had been married since 2012.
She says Heather sought her out on Monday to file for a divorce, but after learning about their marriage, they opted for Heather to file an injunction instead.
“Since 2015, she shared with me, kind of an ongoing pattern of abuse, verbal, emotional, a lot of physical,” Heather said.
She says some of the photos documenting the abuse were “some of the worst” she’s ever seen.
“There were multiple ER visits that resulted in significant injuries to her, where the circumstances leading up to those injuries were explained away,” Heather said. “Which is very common with victims of domestic violence.”
Police reports show that Lloyd was arrested back in 2015 after slapping Heather so hard that it caused her “to fall to the ground.” The same report shows details that he yelled demands at her, like “B*, don’t walk the f*** away from me,” and “get up b****.”
Sussman says that the injunction was filed on Tuesday morning, just one day before the murder, but was never served.
According to Florida Statute 741.30, the injunction must be served as soon thereafter as possible on any day of the week and at any time of the day or night.
“Heather, her family and my office called JSO multiple times to try to get a status on getting him served,” Sussman said. “All of us were either told there was no information, we couldn’t get an update, and a few times, her family members were given incorrect information.”
We reached out to JSO for comment, and they said the following:
While this tragic case is still the subject of ongoing investigation, these are the answers to your questions based on the currently known facts.
Heather Dahlen was granted a temporary injunction on May 5th. This injunction was entered into the automated electronic notification system by the Office of the Clerk of Court. JSO does not have information regarding the timing and circumstances of the entry of the injunction into the electronic system, as it was not performed by our agency. JSO’s Civil Unit did not receive notice of the temporary injunction through the electronic system until May 7th, after the tragic incident.
JSO’s Communication Center received multiple calls from Heather Dahlen, the evening of May 6th, requesting service of the temporary injunction. A family member of Mrs. Dahlen also called JSO’s Communications Center once on the evening of May 6th. JSO’s Communications Center cannot locate any calls received on May 6th made by Mrs. Dahlen’s attorney. During phone conversations between 7:41PM and 8:12PM, the emergency dispatcher relayed to Mrs. Dahlen that an officer would be dispatched to meet with her. Mrs. Dahlen reported that she was in safe locations during these conversations. As a result, the call for service requesting service of the temporary injunction was classified as a priority four call. Because of a large number of higher-priority calls in the area during the time period of these conversations, an officer was not immediately available to meet with Mrs. Dahlen and serve the temporary injunction. The emergency dispatcher explained that there was a high volume of calls at that time to Mrs. Dahlen and told her that an officer would meet with her when one became available. Before an officer was available to meet with Mrs. Dahlen, she had made the decision to return to the home that she shared with Lloyd Dahlen.
If you or a loved one may be in danger, you can contact Hubbard House’s 24/7 hotline at 904-354-3114.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.