CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been one week since 16-year-old Kate Chaplin lost her father and girlfriend in a deadly shooting in the Providence Country Club neighborhood.
“I was not a target,” Chaplin told NBC Charlotte after the shooting. “He stated previously that I was not the target of that attack. He was after people close to me.”
Chaplin said she met 23-year-old John Bocek on Instagram in January, and when she refused to date him, things went south.
Police said 51-year-old Matthew Chaplin and 15-year-old Jenna Hewitt were shot to death by Bocek.
Chaplin said she was asleep when she woke up around 4 a.m. to the sound of gunfire.
"He shot through the back doors and came in. Then came into my father's room, shot him and then came into my room. I was asleep in my bed with my girlfriend, Jenna," said Chaplin.
Chaplin and Hewitt tried to hide in a bedroom closet. She said Bocek walked into the bedroom and didn’t say a word. He found them hiding in the closet.
“He then proceeded to shoot her (Hewitt) and then shot himself," said Chaplin. "I ran over to my father's room. I grabbed his phone and called police. And I ran out of the back door that was shattered with glass.”
She ran to the neighbor’s house for help.
Police reports said Bocek went to her house five days before the shooting and beat her up at the home. There was a warrant out for his arrest but police couldn't find him.
"He tried to date me multiple times and I declined. And I blocked him, I would not see him and that upset him," said Chaplin.
Hewitt was Chaplin’s classmate at Ardrey Kell High School.
"My girlfriend was very involved in school. She did lacrosse and swimming, and she loved her family and loved her pet cats. She was an avid Harry Potter fan," said Chaplin.
Life has thrown curve balls at Chaplin. She lost her mother back in 2016. Now her father and girlfriend are gone.
“You really think that you’re safe and it’s not going to happen to you and that you’re ok and you have this idea that it just happens to other people,” Chaplin said. “No, that’s never going to be me. You just really have to be safe online. You have to be safe about the people you surround yourself with.”
'The only thing to blame is pure evil' | Sister of survivor of double-murder suicide reflects on father's life
Kate Chaplin's sister, Zoe, who goes to App State, told us about the last time she saw her father alive. She also explained what she thinks happened in those early morning hours when her life was changed forever.
"I think he died the same way he lived," Zoe said. "I truly believe that he tried his hardest to be the best dad that he could be and part of that is to be the protector."
Zoe last saw her dad three weeks ago. Now she and Kate are in mourning.
The sisters are no strangers to death. They lost their mother in 2016 due to illness. The loss of their father, though, was a shock.
"This is something completely random, and I think the only thing to blame is pure evil possessed for someone to have to do that. There is no motive or reasoning when it's something that evil," Zoe said.
Zoe went on to say how dangerous social media can be for young girls.
"That man was three years older than me," she said.
"Seven or eight years older than your sister," NBC Charlotte's Rachel Lundberg added.
"It's not okay," Zoe said.
Jayna Huffines, a mother figure to Zoe, told NBC Charlotte this was another tragedy the family shouldn’t be going through.
"I think that it's really hard to know what to say. These girls have just had it stacked on them," said Jayna. "It's something that's crossed my mind a thousand times. It's like, oh God, what do we do now?"
Zoe said she was going to pick up Kate Wednesday so they could spend some time together. There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements.
On Tuesday night, a message was sent to the parents of students who go to Ardrey Kell High School addressing the loss of Jenna.
"To celebrate the life of Jenna Hewitt, our students have decided to wear black on Friday, paint the rock at the entrance of the school and put flowers around the school’s marquee," the message read in part.
Accused double-murderer previously threatened to kill another woman, posted troubling images on Instagram
The man accused of killing a teenage girl and a man early Sunday morning in south Charlotte had an extensive criminal history.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said 23-year-old John Bocek shot Matthew Allen Chaplin and Jenna Hewitt at a home near the Providence Country Club before turning the gun on himself.
NBC Charlotte learned Bocek made troubling social media posts and was the subject of a previous order of protection accusing him of death threats in 2017.
"The defendant has hit me physically multiple times," the order of protection said. "He has (tried) to run me over. He slammed my head against a car door busting my eyelid open and middle of my forehead, put a bag over my head (until I was losing) breath completely to kill me. Held me at gunpoint and put me in the trunk for four hours while beating me, taking me into the woods and beating me with it and kept telling me I was going to die. Dragged me out of the car by my hair and beat me."
The woman said she later learned the gun was fake. According to her order of protection, she also documented that Bocek called her 17 times saying he would come and murder her.
Bocek pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and cyberstalking more than a year ago. Police confirmed he received 45 days in jail as a result.
Court records show Bocek faced more than 40 criminal charges in Mecklenburg and Union counties in recent years, but prosecutors dismissed 30 of them. Bocek touted himself as "Teflon John" on Instagram due to the number of cases prosecutors dismissed against him.
More recently, Bocek faced separate charges related to drugs and weapons out of Union County. In fact, he was scheduled to appear in court Monday to face those charges, which included possession of a firearm by a felon.
In the months leading up to Sunday's shooting, images appeared on Bocek's Instagram account, including, "murder is okay" -- "Just to let you know, your days are numbered" -- and "I'd shoot you in the face before I'd ever stab you in the back."
Bocek's last post from four days ago said, "I based my dreams upon my lifestyle; therefore all I have is nightmares." Another post from September warned people not to get on his bad side, because he wasn't afraid of going to jail.
Kate Chaplin believes she survived the shooting that killed her father and friend so she could be left to suffer.
"I think the motivation was psychological warfare," Kate told NBC Charlote. "I was not a target ... he was after people close to me."
Kate met Bocek on Instagram back in January. They met up and hung out, but she says when he became infatuated with her and she wasn't interested, he wouldn't take no for an answer.
That infatuation led to an attack at her home last week that left her with a concussion. CMPD said they had their Violent Criminal Apprehension Team looking for him since Friday, searching in Indian Trail, Gaston and Mecklenburg Counties.
They didn't find him before he showed up at the Chaplin home Sunday. Kate told NBC Charlotte he left a final eerie message to one of their friends saying, "I let Kate live, but know she was the reason for my suicide."
"You have this idea that it just happens to other people, no that's never [going to] be me, but you really just have to be safe online," Kate said. "You have to be safe about the people you surround yourself with."