Two Florida family members including a two-year-old boy are found dead in $850k home after ‘husband kills wife and son then tries to kill himself in drug-induced murder-suicide attempt’
- A mother and her toddler are dead after their bodies were found Tuesday in their family home in an upper-middle class suburb of south Florida
- Authorities have identified the child’s father, Jean Carlos Aponte, as the prime suspect in the killings
- Aponte was unconscious at the scene after attempting to overdose on pills
Authorities have identified a mother and her young child who were found dead in their Florida home after allegedly being murdered by the father.
The couple, Sara Gama, 38, and her two-year-old son, Ethan, were found dead in the family’s $850,000 home in Plantation, a city west of Fort Lauderdale in the South Florida metropolitan area.
Police say the father, Jean Carlos Aponte, 40, is the prime suspect in the double murder.
He was found unconscious in the family’s home after apparently attempting suicide by overdosing on pills. He was rushed to hospital where he was listed in critical condition.
Sara Gama, 38, and Jean Carlos Aponte, 40. Aponte allegedly killed Gama and their son, Ethan, a two-year-old, at the family’s home in Plantation, Florida
Reportedly, four people were living in the house at the time of the tragedy: the couple, Ethan, and a newborn baby.
On Wednesday, investigators searched the residential area and asked people in the area if they had seen anything that led to the double homicide.
Boxes were also removed from the home, authorities said NBC Miami.
Shortly before noon on Wednesday, the Plantation Fire Department arrived at the house and divers were seen entering the water behind the house.
Neighbors say the nuclear family lived in the house for about five years.
A neighbor, Andy Hyman, told the newspaper: “It saddens me deeply. I really don’t know what motivation someone could have to do something so heinous.”
Another neighbor shared footage from a Ring camera of Aponte taking his toddler for a walk the day before the murders.
A third neighbor said, “The only thing I can think of is maybe he was on pills or something for PTSD? Don’t know.
‘But I saw him walking through my street with his son on Monday. He seemed fine. He walked his son like he always does. He was a nice man who was always with his son.’
On Wednesday, emergency workers were spotted diving in the water behind the family’s home. The bodies were discovered on Tuesday
Amonte and Gama had just welcomed a second child together at the time of the murders. Neighbors say Gama only gave birth a few months ago
The tragedy occurred at the family’s $850,000 home in an upper-middle class suburb of south Florida.
Months before the murders, Amonte, a heavily pregnant Gama, and Ethan are pictured in a family holiday card photo
Neighbors said the newborn baby was picked up by the children’s grandparents after the murders.
‘We were here yesterday. Destruction. How did this happen? I don’t know, he was so nice. Friendly people. She just had a baby,” said a local resident.
‘I’m devastated, they were really nice people… my grandchildren played with Ethan. I’m devastated.’
Neighbors say Aponte is a military veteran who doesn’t drink, spends a lot of time with his family and the appearance of his home.
It is not yet known how the mother and her child died.