Gregory Zecca was reportedly put on a psychiatric hold after he shot and killed his 13-year-old son, Anthony, in a tragic accident.
A family representative claimed Gregory – who is Dog the Bounty Hunter’s wife Francie Frane’s son – was so grief-stricken by Anthony’s death that they had concerns he may decide to take his own life, according to TMZ.
As the National Enquirer previously reported, deputies from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call to Gregory’s apartment in Naples, Florida, on July 19 and discovered one person dead. It was later reported that the 13-year-old had been shot in the neck.
“We are grieving as a family over this incomprehensible tragic accident,” a statement from the family read, “and would ask for continued prayers as we grieve the loss of our beloved grandson, Anthony.”
It is unclear how the shooting accident happened. No arrests were made and the incident is currently under investigation. However, it’s been reported that police have not been able to talk with Gregory as he is under sedation while on psychiatric hold.
Dog the Bounty Hunter – born Duane Chapman – married Gregory’s mother, Francie, 56, in 2021. The couple bonded over losing their respective former partners to cancer. The reality star’s late wife, Beth Chapman, died in 2019, while Bob Frane passed away in 2018.
“We understood the pain that the other one was feeling and [in] those tough days and moments, we helped each other stand up,” Francie shared in a 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight. “We could cry with each other and talk about what we were feeling.”
Reflecting on Beth’s final days, Dog, 72, revealed that she urged him to let go.
“The last few moments she said, ‘Come in here right now, in the bathroom.’ I went in and she said, ‘Look at me.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re freaking beautiful baby,'” he said to ET in 2019. “[And she said,] ‘Look at me, Duane Chapman.’ And I did, I always saw Beth and she said, ‘Please, let me go’… Before I could say, ‘Alright,’ she couldn’t breathe and I called the ambulance.”
Years after her passing, the former bounty hunter said that he and Francie still honor the anniversaries of their late spouses’ deaths.
“We don’t feel guilty, but it’s kind of strange,” he said at the time. “But we’re in love and I say all the time, ‘Beth, I’m glad you provided me with Francie because that wasn’t on my list.’”
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