Editor’s note: This story contains an account of domestic violence and suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255.

LITHIA — They called her “Momma Cassi.”

Cassandra Cagle worked the breakfast cart at Newsome High School every morning, greeting students by name, asking about their lives and urging them to eat something for the most important meal of the day.

Just like a mom.

“She was the first smiling face to greet them every morning,” said Donna-Lynn Insley, the school’s student nutrition manager. “She would say, ‘You know you have a game after school, come get your breakfast.’”

Cagle wasn’t at her cart Monday morning. Instead, tearful students left flowers there in her memory.

By then, word had spread that Cagle’s husband Lawrence “Larry” Cagle fatally shot her Friday evening during an argument at their Wimauma home and then turned the gun on himself. She was 41. He was 57.

The crime stole a part of the Newsome High family and left the couple’s five daughters, 15 to 24, stunned and grieving. Three attended Newsome and the youngest is still enrolled there.

“They loved each other very, very much, but their relationship was rocky," said daughter Savannah Cagle, 21.

The Cagles had worked through difficult times over the years, divorcing and then remarrying. Larry Cagle struggled with alcoholism, depression and injuries from a car crash but seemed to be doing better recently, Savannah Cagle said. He was supposed to start a new job this week and the couple recently learned that Savannah was pregnant with their first grandchild.

“We were all convinced he was curing himself, that he knew he was depressed and didn’t want to be that way,” Savannah Cagle said.

Cassi Cagle and her husband Larry, seen here in a family photo, enjoyed spending time outdoors together, said their daughter, Savannah. Larry Cagle fatally shot his wife, then himself, at their Wimauma home on Oct. 25. [ Courtesy Savannah Cagle ]

When the couple married in 2009, Cassi Cagle had two daughters from a previous marriage and Larry had three daughters including Savannah.

The Cagles shared a love of the outdoors and spent time together fishing, kayaking and shooting guns at the range. They kept a menagerie on their quarter-acre property — dogs, chickens and ferrets, along with wild creatures like armadillos they would rescue and nurse to health.

By 2012, the couple had run into financial problems that led them to divorce, Savannah Cagle said. Still, they stayed together as a couple.

“They didn’t want to leave each other,” she said. “They just decided it wasn’t the best option because Cassi was such a good motherly figure for us.”

Cassi Cagle started with the school district in 2014, working first at Stowers Elementary and Barrington Middle, two schools on a combined campus in Lithia. In fall 2016, she moved to Newsome, where she worked as the school nutrition production coordinator.

Stationed at a cart in a breezeway before the first bell, Cagle served up chicken biscuits, fruit and juice with a side of small talk. She asked the athletes about their games and the band kids about their concerts. She inquired about their families.

Barrington and Stowers feed students to Newsome — an A-rated school at 16550 Fishhawk Blvd. with an enrollment of 3,050 — so many students there felt like they’d grown up with her, said Insley, the nutrition manager.

“She knew everybody’s name. It was amazing," Insley said. “She was just loved by everybody.”

Larry Cagle and his wife Cassi, from left, are shown in this family photo with four of their five daughters: Emilee; Savannah; Cayleigh; and Abby. [ Courtesy Savannah Cagle ]

Larry and Cassi Cagle remarried in February, figuring if they were going to stay together, they should make it official again, Savannah Cagle said.

A couple of weeks later, the couple were involved in a serious car crash on County Road 39. According to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office news release at the time, a 20-year-old woman driving a subcompact Toyota crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the Cagles’ Chevrolet pickup truck.

The Toyota driver died at the scene. Larry had to be extricated from the driver’s seat and flown to Tampa General Hospital. Cassi Cagle, the sole passenger, had a couple of broken bones.

According to court records, first responders smelled alcohol on Larry Cagle’s breath and hospital staff indicated his blood alcohol level was above the limit at which a driver is presumed impaired under Florida law. At the time of Cagle’s death, the Sheriff’s Office was still gathering facts to determine if it would charge him.

Had the investigation resulted in an an arrest, it would have been Larry Cagle’s first criminal charge in Florida, records show.

Cagle’s body was partially crushed in the crash and he lost full use of the left side of his body, Savannah Cagle said. Though he wasn’t implicated in the crash, she said her father carried guilt with him because he felt like he could have somehow prevented it. Making matters worse, he lost his job loading freight cars for a transportation company.

Then, in early September, some good news finally came. Larry and Cassi cried when Savannah told them Sept. 10 that she was pregnant.

“They said it was the best news they’d heard all year and that it was a blessing for the family," Savannah Cagle said.

A public post on the couple’s shared Facebook page a couple weeks later hinted at the difficult stretch they had endured.

“Happy birthday to my wonderful husband Larry,” the post says. “Even though this year has been a true test from god for us we never lost faith in each other. I thank god everyday that you are mine ...”

Larry and Cassi Cagle are shown in a recent family photo. [ Courtesy Savannah Cagle ]

Larry Cagle was to start work as a security guard Oct. 28. On Oct. 22, he went to the hospital with chest pains. Savannah said Cassi told her Larry asked her to leave the room when the doctors gave their diagnosis.

“I think he got news that he was in worse health than he thought and didn’t want anyone to know or worry about it,” Savannah said.

The shootings happened three days later. Savannah Cagle said it’s still unclear what the couple were arguing about at the time. Their youngest daughter Abby, a 15-year-old freshman at Newsome, was the only other person home at the time.

Abby told her family that Larry Cagle told her to hide in the closet and call 911 because he’d just shot his wife. Soon after, he shot himself.

Abby is now living with her mother, who had shared custody with Larry Cagle, in Hillsborough, her sister said.

As Newsome High grieves, students, staff and faculty are working to support the family. Operation Lotus, a Lithia-based nonprofit organization that supports people coping with loss or tragedy, has partnered with the Newsome Parent Teacher Student Association’s Angel Program to collect donations for the family.

They’re especially concerned about Abby, said Operation Lotus founder Melanie Brockmeier Jordy.

“We want to be able to give her as much support as she’s going to need,” Brockmeier Jordy said.

Savannah Cagle’s mind has been consumed with thoughts of those final moments and what her dad was thinking. Despite his final acts, she said she’ll remember her father as loving, generous and supportive.

“He tried to do everything for everybody even though it was too much at times,” she said. "He would always tell me, ‘I don’t want you to give up on me,’ and I said, ‘Dad, I would never give up on you. I have more faith in you than in anyone else.' ”