ACuban family of four found dead in apparent murder-suicide case in Hialeah.
According to initial investigations, theman, 60, shot and killed his 50-year-old wife and two children, an 18-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, before shooting himself.
According to Miami-Dade Police in a statement, officers responded on Sunday shortly after 9:00 pm to an apartment inRoyalton on the Green Apartments, located at 17400 NW 68th Ave for a family well-being check.
"Once officers arrived, they noticed an unpleasant odor coming from the apartment," the statement said.
Miami-Dade firefighters also went to the scene and helped police officers get inside.
Once inside, they discovered four people dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
"Apparently, the father shot and killed his wife, daughter and son, before taking his own life," the police report details.
The woman's brother, named Juan Martínez, identified the two adults asVíctor Penalba and Yumara Martínez, who according to their social networks were born in Havana. Their children were namedJason Penalba and Stephanie Penalba.
Juan explained that his sister and brother-in-law were not legally married, but had been together on and off for 20 years.
As stated toNBC Miami, although they had separated, it was said that they would get back together. The family did not agree with that, but no one imagined that something like this would happen.
The man revealed that his nephew's friends alerted the police after not hearing anything from him for days.
Furthermore, about two weeks ago the murdered young man sent a cryptic message warning of what could happen.
"According to the detective, he tells us that my nephew mentioned to him, I think it was his friend or his girlfriend, a week before the 29th, who told him: 'if you don't hear from me in four or five days, something bad happened.'" Why would I say that? It leads me to believe that the father was threatening them," he commented.
Juan toldLocal 10 News that the family had been dead for two weeks before they were found.
The Police continue to investigate the crime.
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