Police Say Kan. Mom Fatally Shot Teen Son, Who Was Remembered by Brother as 'Caring Young Man'

Mar. 15, 2025

Tesha La Sha Florence (right) is accused of killing her 16-year-old son, Robert Florence (left).Photo:GoFundMe; Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office

GoFundMe; Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office

The mother allegedly called 911 Wednesday morning, Oct. 9, to report that she had shot her son, according to police.

Inside the family’s Wichita, Kan., apartment, police found 16-year-old Robert Florence “with a single gunshot wound,” theWichita Police Departmentsaid in a set of press releases.

Robert was rushed to the hospital in “extremely critical condition” where the teen succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning, Oct. 11, according to anupdated release.

On the day of the shooting, his mother, Tesha La Sha Florence, 46, wasbookedinto Sedgwick County Jail at 4:34 p.m. and charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated battery, with a $1,000,000.00 professional surety bond set on the battery charge.

Robert Florence.GoFundMe

GoFundMe

“This is a tragic incident that has forever altered a family,” Chief Joe Sullivan said in a statement. “Gun violence affects our entire community and cannot be tolerated.”

Robert’s older brother, Kurtis Florence, recalls in a phone interview with PEOPLE that the teen was “just somebody you could trust.”

“He kept it genuine at all times,” Kurtis, 20, says. “He was always able to point you to your truth. People lie a lot of times, but he could see through all that.”

Kurtis adds that the Wichita Northwest High School junior was “a force” within his community and “a very loving, caring young man.”

The family had struggled financially for years, according to Kurtis, who says that their mother, along with Robert and another brother, had been living at his Wichita apartment since spring 2022.

He says their mother – who previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and raised her four sons as a single mother – had struggled financially in the last few years and eventually took an overnight factory job paying $10 an hour.

With just one car for the family, the 20-year-old says he regularly drove his girlfriend to work, then took his brothers to school before dropping off his mother at the factory and going to his own job.

Often, with the long, expensive commute to school, Robert arrived late to school.

With slipping grades and attendance, the 16-year-old who had played junior varsity basketball his sophomore year did not make the team as a junior.

On the morning of the shooting, Kurtis says that Robert had opted to stay home from school because he did not have any clean clothes to wear.

Tesha La Sha Florence in October 2024 mugshot.Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office

After dropping off their other brother, Kurtis says he returned home to the sound of sirens at his apartment.

“My mom wasn’t the type to go off the rail,” Kurtis says. Noting that his mother called 911 following the shooting, he adds: “I’m convinced that it was an accident and that it wasn’t intentional.”

While investigating the East Harry Street apartment shooting, police say detectives learned that Robert’s mother had allegedly threatened her ex-husband and his current girlfriend with a gun earlier this year.

Police say that the March 2024 incident – which Kurtis says he did not have first-hand knowledge of – had not been reported.

Dan Dillon of the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office tells PEOPLE that Tesha is slated to make her first appearance Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 15 at 2:30 Central Time in front of Judge Shawn Elliott.

Now, Kurtis – who says that since the shooting he was kicked out of his apartment and is living out of a hotel – grieves the loss of his brother while trying to keep his family together.

On Tuesday afternoon he told PEOPLE that he is looking for a lawyer to defend his mother.

He has also set up aGoFundMe pageso that he can bury his youngest brother, remembering Robert as “a cherished son, sibling, and friend, who touched the lives of so many with his kindness, humor, and generous spirit.”

source: people.com