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The case that shook a Cuban family in Miami in 2023 has reached a new chapter: the father who fatally shot his own son in Kendall was sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty.
David Contreras, 54 years old, accepted a plea deal with the prosecution and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a firearm, thereby avoiding a trial for second-degree murder, a charge that was initially against him, according to a report by Telemundo 51.
The sentence also includes 10 years of probation for the death of his son, Eric Contreras, a 21-year-old student at Florida International University (FIU), whose life ended tragically in his own home in November 2023.
Contreras himself had called 911 after the shooting that took place at the family home located at 10703 Southwest 84th Avenue, in Kendall, a quiet neighborhood in Miami-Dade County. When the police arrived, they found the young man with gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the research, everything began after a family argument following their return from a trip to Orlando. The fight escalated to an irreversible point.
"What have I done? I was fighting with my son… I lost my head," the father is heard saying in the 911 call released during the judicial proceedings, reflecting the magnitude of the drama experienced at home.
During the process, Contreras claimed to have acted in self-defense and stated that he had suffered years of abuse from his son, but the prosecutors rejected that account. Nevertheless, his family supported him at all times, and even a judge allowed him to remain under house arrest while awaiting trial.
In the final hearing, the father broke the silence with a phrase that encapsulates the weight of what happened: “I have to live with that, Your Honor,” he said before the court, according to Local 10.
The case shocked not only the local community but also Eric's colleagues and friends at FIU, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. "He will always be remembered for being a kind man and for lighting up any room," they expressed at the time.
From the outset, authorities classified the incident as a case of domestic violence. Police spokesperson Álvaro Zabaleta went so far as to describe it as a tragedy difficult to comprehend: “Just thinking that the son's life was in the hands of the father and he took it away is something we will never be able to understand.”
Behind the judicial process lies a story marked by family conflicts, accumulated tensions, and a fatal outcome that forever changed the lives of everyone involved. A tragedy that, beyond the verdict, leaves a wound that is impossible to heal.
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