Court documents shed light on custody battle prior to murder-suicide

HARVEST, Ala. (WAFF) - Ten-year-old Tate Buening was killed by his father, Brian Buening, in a murder-suicide incident in Madison County. Court documents are now shedding light on a custody battle prior to this tragedy.

Tate and his father were found dead inside a home on Blue Creek Drive in Harvest Friday morning.

Tate’s mother, Kayla Tate White, filed an emergency motion to get him away from his father on July 9. A hearing date was set to Monday, August 9 by the Madison County Circuit Court.

In the motion, Kayla stated Brian Buening suffered from PTSD and depression and claims he became extremely violent when left untreated or while consuming alcohol. The document states Brian threatened Kayla verbally on several occasions. He recently threatened to kill her in a text message, according to court documents. 48 News has read this message and chose not to disclose it due to vulgar language.

The motion also claims Brian has a lengthy history of suicidal ideations and two recent suicide attempts. Kayla states Tate was in great danger while he was with his father.

Read the full motion below:

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