Crime & Safety

Attacks at Pagan Author's Home Raise Concerns

Kyrja Withers is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is behind a March shooting and April "bombing" at her property.

Heather Withers was outside the colorful house her father and stepmother live in on Washington Street in New Port Richey on the evening of April 15 when she saw a blue car on Washington. The vehicle passed the house going south and then turned around and came back toward the home.

She said there was a young man in the driver’s seat and another in the front passenger seat with his body sticking out of the window. She said the driver was also coming out of the window. There was also a young man in the backseat.

She says two bottles with fluid inside were thrown at the house from within the vehicle on its return alongside the home. One landed near a bush in the front yard of the house. She saw the bottle expand and tried to get away before it exploded.

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“Every time I close my eyes, I see the bottle expanding,” she said.

She said she did not escape the fumes when the bottle burst.

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She told the New Port Richey police that both bottles exploded.

The second bottle exploded so hard that it went flying across the street and into a neighbor's yard.

Heather, 30, says she has suffered from the effects of chemical inhalation. She says her lungs swelled in the wake of the incident, and she was put on steroids and an inhaler.

Heather’s stepmother is Kyrja Withers, who recently reported to police that the windows of her home were shot at. Kyrja was inside her home when the bottles were thrown and heard the explosions.

There haven't been any arrests yet in the bottle throwing incident or the incident where the windows of Kyrja's home were shot at. Kyrja is now offering $200 as a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people involved in throwing the bottles and/or the March 28 shooting incident at her home.   

Kyrja Withers is a practicing pagan and says she is an elemental witch.  She is also the author of a series of children’s books called “Rupert’s Tales.” The books follow a bunny named Rupert who learns about pagan holidays.     

Asked whether she thought the Monday incident was connected to her faith, Kyrja answered in the affirmative. She said she "would really like it to be about something else."

But she thinks "this is an escalation of the same thought process" behind other incidents at her home.

“I write fiction for a living, and I couldn’t write this because it has to make sense,” she said.

On March 28, Kyrja was in her home office when someone fired shots at her house. She lives there with husband Randy Withers, who is Heather’s father and also identifies himself as a witch.  

Three windowpanes were damaged that night. A BB pellet was found near the door, where one pane was cracked. There weren’t injuries in that case.

Kyrja said that the night before the shootings, someone drove to Washington Street near the house, stopped the vehicle and started honking and then shouted obscenities. She said one of the phrases screamed was "*expletive* witch.” 

She also films videos about Rupert and posts them on YouTube. She said a recent comment on the YouTube page called her an expletive and a freak.

Det. Greg Williams with the New Port Richey Police Department says the agency is investigating the bottle throwing incident at Kyrja’s home and that he’s also handling the March 28 shooting case.

He said he believes the Withers are being “targeted,” but he doesn’t know the reason. He said he’s heard Withers’ concerns that these may be connected to her faith. He said that the police are looking at every angle in this case.  

Williams sent the remains of the bottles to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab to try and determine what fluid was in them. 

You can see the police station from the Withers’ home. The police park their vehicles in lot at the corner of Washington and Adams Street, just north of the Withers home.

The proximity of the incidents to the police department is “what’s really alarming,” Williams said.

Heather Withers is not a pagan.

“But I love one,” she said.

The bottle-throwing incident was "like being terrorized."

"I worry about my dad," she said. "I worry about my stepmom."

Kyrja is well known in the local community and also has fans in the pagan community. The Progress Energy Art Gallery in downtown is currently displaying art by the illustrator of The Friends of Rupert. Kyrja regularly organizes road cleanups. She recently had trash bags full of donations for the homeless on her porch. She said she’s had some pagans unfriend her on Facebook out of fear due to the recent incident, but she's also had some support from pagan friends.

She has said in the past she wants the culprits to be educated about pagans.

“We’re just people,” she said.

Tips leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever’s behind the incidents can be emailed to Kyrja at friendsofrupert@yahoo.com. The police department can be called at (727) 841-4550.


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