According to court records, a US military veteran faces two charges of first-degree murder in connection with the stabbings of his wife and a child in South Florida.
Jean Carlos Aponte, 40, was arrested after his wife, Sara Ashley Gama, 38, and their two-year-old son, Ethan Aponte, were discovered dead at their plantation home last week. The city is in Broward County, approximately six miles from Fort Lauderdale.
According to Plantation Police, authorities rushed to the home on March 26 afternoon and discovered the mother and toddler deceased, as well as Aponte comatose.
Aponte was brought to a hospital in critical condition after suffering a probable narcotic overdose, according to the police. Detectives are examining the case as an apparent murder-suicide attempt.
According to online records from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Aponte was released over the weekend and put into jail, where he was held without bond on Tuesday.
Police detective Robert Rettig says “Due to the active status of this investigation, no further information is available at this time,”
Sara Gama stabbed 28 times, Ethan Aponte also stabbed multiple times
Gama’s father called 911 after finding his daughter on the kitchen floor “covered in blood and Aponte unconscious in the master bedroom,” according to an arrest warrant WTVJ-TV obtained. First responders reportedly discovered the couple’s 2-year-old son face-down in a pool in the backyard.
The source claims that the warrant from the authorities stated that the couple’s 4-month-old boy was unharmed.
According to the warrant, his older brother sustained stab wounds to his neck and defensive injuries to his hand, and the child’s preliminary cause of death was drowning and a sharp force injury.
The toddler’s mother suffered 28 stab wounds to her face, neck, and belly, according to the warrant. Police reported that her tentative cause of death was a sharp-force injury.
Aponte appeared in court in Broward County on Sunday, and according to WTVJ-TV, a judge ordered him to undergo a mental health screening.
Fellow service member: Aponte was suffering from traumatic brain injury
The motive for the double homicide remained unknown; however, Aponte had previously sought care for his mental health, according to the publication.
Army veteran Chris Haley told the TV station that Aponte was suffering from “post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury” and had recently contacted the Catch A Lift Fund, a program that provides mental health help to military members.
“That is the whole reason why our organization exists,” Haley stated, according to the station. “So when it does happen, it’s quite shocking because it’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid. He (Aponte) felt a great urge to put things right because he had a wife and a child.
Court filings did not identify Aponte’s attorney of record.
His next court date has not yet been scheduled.
Anyone with information on the double killing should contact plantation police.
