Brother of Cuban woman who was murdered along with her children by her husband in Hialeah speaks

Juan Rodríguez, brother of the 50-year-old Cuban woman who was murdered along with her two teenage children at the hands of the children's father, regrets the sad end of the family.

“He was a very controlling guy, very controlling. Unfortunately my sister couldn't escape this relationship."Rodríguez lamented in statements toTelemundo 51 when referring to Víctor Penalba, 60 years old and also of Cuban origin, who, after shooting his partner and his own children, committed suicide.

“He killed them while they were sleeping. "He put the pillow on them and shot them with a 9 mm Glock, that's why no one heard anything.", added the source, who specified that the couple had been together for about 20 years, a period marked by some breakups in between.

They were not legally married, but from their long relationship together two children were born:Jason Penalba (18 years old), and Stephanie Penalba (13).

Víctor Penalba had recently been fired from his job in the Hialeah sanitation area and the woman, Yumara Martínez, gave him the opportunity to move back in with her and their children to help him with expenses, something that Juan Rodríguez now says. thatThe family never approved precisely because of Penalba's controlling and possessive history.

It was such a stormy relationship that Jason had even told his girlfriend that, if four or five days went by and she didn't hear from him, it was because something bad had happened, something that made her suspect that the father had threatened to kill her. his own family nucleus.

The aforementioned source revealed that in fact Jason's girlfriend was the first to go to the apartment, in the condominium. Royalton on the Green Apartments, located at 174th Street and 68th Avenue in Northwest County, where he knocked on the door and got no response.

Following that, she spoke with other friends of Jason Penalba, who accompanied her to the police to file a report.

According to the Miami-Dade Police in a statement,Officers responded Sunday shortly after 9 p.m. to the apartment to carry out a welfare check on the family.

Once they arrived, officers noticed an unpleasant odor coming from the apartment and asked for help from firefighters to get inside. Once inside the home, they were discoveredthe four bodies with gunshot wounds.

It is estimated that they had been dead for about two weeks.

The residents of the condominium are shocked by the tragedy.

“Very sad, there must have been a psychological or economic problem, I don't know, I would never come to that and never with my family,” said Maribel García, in statements toAmerica Camel.

“For a person to reach that state they have to have a very difficult situation, not only to take their own life, but also to take their family's life, psychological problems, but they couldn't go anywhere,” said Pedro Soler, another neighbor.

“First time I'm hearing that, because everything is very quiet here, I've been living here for more than four years and everything is very quiet. We are in a situation that is sad that it has reached that point, people who make such strong decisions, only God have mercy on them,” said Betty Mora, another resident.

What could have triggered this tragic outcome is just one of the many questions that investigators have.

At the moment there is no more information about the case. The authorities have an investigation open to clarify the motives behind the murder-suicide case.