The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) continues to probe circumstances surrounding the death of a Spring Hill teen who was killed last December, but her father says investigators are not releasing information about the case fast enough.
Ed Ptarcinski said that on Dec. 25 after exchanging Christmas presents with the rest of the family, his 18-year-old daughter, and her 20-year-old boyfriend were in her room watching television around 11 p.m. “With the door open,” he said.
The girl had a pocket knife in her room Ptarcinski said.
At the same time, his wife was asleep on the couch and the rest of the family was getting ready for bed.
According to Ptarcinski the boyfriend then walked the girl into her parents’ bedroom, and repeatedly said, “I (screwed) up.” The teen was bleeding and had a knife wound at the back of her neck, her father recalled.
“He had sliced an artery,” he said.
Ptarcinski said that he called 911 for an ambulance and to report the incident.
“It took 25 minutes for the ambulance to arrive,” he recalled. “My daughter bled out.”
The girl was transported to the Trauma Center at Bayonet Point Hospital in Hudson, Fla., where her heart stopped and she was pronounced dead, Ptarcinski said.
Meanwhile, deputies from HCSO arrived and questioned Ptarcinski, his wife, their 12-year-old daughter, and the teen’s boyfriend.
“We were in police cars for several hours,” he said. “We should have been with our daughter.”
According to Ptarcinski, the adults were taken to the police station, further questioned, and released.
No one has been charged in connection with the incident, but Ptarcinski said that he responded to detectives’ request to talk with him whenever he was asked.
“The detective asked me to contact him so I called and texted Friday and Saturday (Jan. 21 and 22), but I could not get in touch with the detective on the case, but when I ask I don’t get answers,” he said. “I understand that the cops have a job to do, but what I want to know is why no one is in jail over this?”
HCSO Deputy Public Information Officer (PIO) confirmed that the case is classified as an active death investigation and that it has not been the subject of widespread publicity.
“We don’t always publicize cases,” Terry said.
Answers are scarce because the final results of the investigation into the case have not yet been determined, he said.
“That means that the detectives and the medical examiner are working to determine exactly what happened,” he said.
Terry said that investigators frequently do not share what they learn – even with members of the subject’s family – until all the facts surrounding the case have been determined.
“That’s because we don’t want to taint the investigation,” he said.
More information about the probe is expected shortly.
“Hopefully we’ll have more information about this (case) in the next month,” he said.
Until then Ptarcinski and his family remain frustrated.
“We’re distraught,” he said.
