SPRINGVILLE — Jeanie White's daughters didn't want her dating Brian Sebastian.
He was abusive, daughter Ashley White said, and she'd reported that abuse to the police.
"I guess she was blinded by love," she said.
On Monday night, Jeanie White, 40, and Sebastian, 46, were found dead in the Springville duplex they shared. Police say Sebastian likely shot Jeanie White and then turned the gun on himself.
Ashley White, 20, said she had talked to her mother Sunday evening. Her mother and Sebastian and been drinking, she said, and Sebastian had been calling her mother names.
Her mother was preparing to leave Sebastian, Ashley White said.
When another daughter, Kayley White, couldn't reach her mother after calling several times, the two sisters knocked on Jeanie White's door at 1243 S. 550 East. When no one answered, they called police.
Officers arrived about 10:20 p.m. and entered the house though an open second-story window.
Jeanie White and Sebastian were found dead in the bedroom, each with a bullet wound to the head, Springville Police Lt. Dave Caron said. The gun was lying next to Sebastian. It appeared that Jeanie White had been packing a bag with clothing, Caron said.
"I expected at the very least he had hit her," said Ashley White, who used to live in the basement below her mother and Sebastian, "but you don't expect it's going to happen like that."
Ashley White said her mother and Sebastian had met online about two years ago and moved in together shortly afterward. They didn't have many problems the first year of dating, but things got worse over the past year — partly due to her mother's medical problems and partly due to the couple's drinking habits, she said.
Her mother had left Sebastian before, Ashley White said, but she always went back to him. Her mother just always needed to be with someone, she said.
Marie Parker, who lives in the same duplex, said Sebastian was always nice to her. He would take care of her lawn and fix her car when it was broken, she said.
Parker, 25, said she thinks it was the alcohol that made him treat Jeanie White so terribly.
Parker is named in a police report for a domestic violence case against Sebastian that was pending in 4th District Court at the time of his death.
Sebastian was arrested May 22 after Parker had heard Jeanie White whimpering and injured outside her door, a police report states. Jeanie White told police that Sebastian had punched her in the face during a fight over a new baby rabbit she'd brought home.
Officers said both Jeanie White and Sebastian appeared "extremely drunk," according to the report. At first, Sebastian said he could not recall the night's events, but he later said, "The one time I have to put her down, set her down, and I get in trouble for it," the report states.
But according to the family, he had beat her before.
Sebastian also bragged to police that he was a "gun enthusiast and owns several guns" and had a concealed-weapons permit. Until Monday's shooting, officers had not seen any weapons, Caron said.
But Ashley White said that was one thing that made her nervous around Sebastian. He was always carrying a gun, she said.
Sebastian had originally been charged with a class B misdemeanor, but the charge was refiled earlier this month as a class A misdemeanor, Caron said.
After Sebastian's May arrest, Springville's victim advocate tried to offer services to Jeanie White, but she repeatedly declined assistance and refused to cooperate with prosecutors, Caron said.
Ashley White said Sebastian had been out of work for seven months, so he and her mother would spend every hour of the day together.
Sebastian and White had been renting the duplex for less than a year, said neighbor Pat Lee. She said the couple kept to themselves.
Lee received a call from the owner of the house late Monday telling her what had happened.
Parker, the owner's daughter, had heard fighting earlier Sunday night and had woken up to a loud noise in the middle of the night. When she heard nothing after that, she thought the fighting had stopped, Parker said.
Bonnie Wickes, who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years, spoke with Lee outside her door Tuesday morning shortly after she had found out what happened.
"I was totally shocked," Wickes said. "I honestly think a lot of people didn't know what was happening last night."
Other neighbors seemed to be equally taken aback by the news.
"This is a fairly quiet neighborhood," said Darren Hardy, who lives two houses down, "so it's surprising to see something like this happen."
An autopsy was being performed Tuesday to try and learn more information about the deaths, Caron said.
"There is no good reason for domestic violence," he said. "It just happens."
Contributing: Pat Reavy
E-mail: slenz@desnews.com