A teenage couple faces charges in Florida in connection with the death of the girl’s father, who police say didn’t approve of their relationship.
A Miami-Dade police spokesman confirms to PEOPLE that the fatally-shot body of Evelio Gainza, 63, was found last Thursday inside his West Kendall home after a relative asked for a welfare check. Police say his body had been there for three days and was partially hidden under blood-soaked towels and blankets.
Demar Turruellas, 18, faces second-degree murder and other charges. The victim’s teen daughter, who PEOPLE is not naming because she’s a minor and who police say is Turruellas’ girlfriend, is charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with physical evidence. It is not yet known whether the teen girl will be charged as an adult.
Turruellas allegedly implicated himself and the victim’s daughter in a confession to police, the spokesman says.
According to the spokesman, on the day Gainza was fatally shot, he picked his daughter up and brought her back to his house so she could retrieve items. But while Gainza was upstairs, she allegedly snuck out of the home and left with his Mercedes to pick up Turruellas. After the couple returned to the victim’s home, Turruellas allegedly shot him in the back multiple times, the spokesman says.
The victim’s daughter allegedly tried to conceal the bloody scene using bleach and paper towels and also gathered up the spent shell casings, the spokesman says.
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On the same day Gainza’s body was found, the couple was picked up by police who were searching for the victim’s white Mercedes, which was missing from his driveway.
The spokesman says Turruellas, when confronted by police, was holding a gun and then dropped it. The gun had allegedly been painted over and its serial number had been obscured, according to the spokesman.
The female suspect’s mother, Jacqueline Avila, told Local 10 News her daughter changed after meeting Turruellas.
“All of a sudden, she [met] this guy and life took another turn,” Avila said. “Her father didn’t want nothing to do with him.”
She added, “I can’t understand why my daughter would go that path.”
In addition to second-degree murder, Turruellas is charged with shooting a deadly missile, tampering with physical evidence, carrying a concealed firearm and trying to remove its serial number, the spokesman says.
The spokesman says the suspects are currently jailed and have not yet entered pleas. Both have been denied bond.
It was not immediately clear whether either of the suspects has retained an attorney.
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