Killer Dads: Fathers who ended their children's lives in situations involving child custody, visitation, and/or child support
FLORIDA
Alachua County
Father: ANTHONY SCOTT ENCLARDE
Victim(s): Ashton (14 months)
Date of Death: January 2011
Father charged with manslaughter. Custodial arrangements not clear, though mother did not live in the home and apparently gave birth in North Carolina. Father on probation for previous child neglect concerning another child. Unable to locate update on this case as of November 2014.
Bay County
Father: THOMAS EVERETT BROWN IV
Victim(s): unnamed Child (20 months), unnamed child injured (7 months)
Date of Death: August 2010
Father facing open murder count in beating death of 20-month-old child. News accounts mention that parents lived in separate households, but custody/visitation arrangements not explained. Father had violent criminal record. Unable to locate update on this case as of November 2014.
Father: EVAN HERNANDEZ
Victim(s): Izabella Votta (6 years)
Date of Death: May 2015
Custodial dad not charged in what authorities dismiss as the "accidental" fatal shooting of six-year-old daughter.
Broward County
Father: PAUL ANDRADE
Victim(s): Amira Andrade (6 years)
Date of Death: November 2012
Father killed daughter in murder-suicide during his "regular visitation." Was said to be a "spousal revenge" killing--father was reputedly angry that the mother had recently remarried.
Citrus County
Father: NELSON OSCEOLA
Victim(s): Ahizya Osceola (3 years)
Date of Death: March 2015
"Missing" boy found dead in home of custodial father. Father had previous arrest for battery and had been investigated for physical child abuse, which the authorities failed to substantiate.
Father: SPENCER WEAVER
Victim(s): Tamarri Weaver (2 months)
Date of Death: February 2010
Father with extensive criminal background being investigated in death of infant son, who died during visitation with father. In May 2011, father convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Collier County
Father: SAMUEL SEJOUR
Victim(s): Elijay Kye Aliazar (3 months)
Date of Death: January 2009
Father had shared custody with infant's mother. Son died of blunt force trauma to the head during visitation. Father charged with 2nd-degree murder. As of November 2014, unable to locate media update on this case.
Duval County
Father: RODNEY BURTON
Victim(s): Aidyn Burton (10 months)
Date of Death: May 2013
Father killed son during visitation that was apparently not court-ordered. Committed suicide days later.
*Father: JOSI M. HALL
Victim(s): Kyla Hall (1 year)
Date of Death: 2008
Father had sole custody, and had been cleared of previous abuse allegations. Daughter died of blunt force trauma at home. Father convicted of 2nd-degree murder and in May 2010, sentenced to life in prison.
Father: JOHN ROSS NORFLEET
Victim(s): Jada (4 years)
Date of Death: January 2015
Custodial dad, step arrested in abuse death of 4-year-old daughter. Non-custodial mom lives in Michigan.
Father: DWAYNE WEEDON
Victim(s): Nehemiah (2 months)
Date of Death: October 2014
Father granted custody of infant as a newborn. Told caseworkers he gave infant to relatives to raise. Father now missing and suspected in death of infant as of January 2016.
Father: ERNEST WRIGHT
Victim(s): Mesia Wright (2 years)
Date of Death: November 2010
Girl dies of methadone overdose while in visitation with father. Babysitting girlfriend charged with aggravated manslaughter. Mom had primary custody, but “allowed” child to stay with father when at work or school. As of November 2014, unable to find any media update on case.
Gilchrist County
Father: ROLAND MATTHEW
Victim(s): Kristina Hepp (4 years)
Date of Death: April 2009
Father filed for custody in November 2008, obtained it in February 2009. Child was apparently sexually abused, battered, and tortured from the start. In April 2010, father pleaded no contest to 1st-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
Hernando County
Father: DANIEL CASTRILLON
Victim(s): Susana Castrillon (8 years), Sebastian Castrillon (7 years)
Date of Death: October 27, 2013
Parents had just separated, mother had filed for divorce two weeks prior. Despite "suicidal statements" and threats to remove the children from the US, father allowed overnight visitation. Children shot to death in murder-suicide.
Highland County
Father: CHRISTOPHER KING
Victim(s): Amelia King (2 years)
Date of Death: September 2012
Dad charged with manslaughter in daughter's death. Appears that custody/visitation arrangement was court-ordered; mom's previous concerns regarding father's drug usage, child neglect dismissed. Father eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter.
Hillsborough County
Father: JUSTIN GARWACKI
Victim(s): John Taylor Baxley (3 years)
Date of Death: August 2010
Son normally lived with mother in Missouri. Child died during court-ordered summer visitation with father, girlfriend. Both charged with murder in February 2011. Trial delayed in January 2013 because of defense counsel quitting. As of November 2014, no other media update on case. Father, girlfriend on trial in February 2016.
*Father: DWAYNE POOLE
Victim(s): Ronderique Anderson (16 months)
Date of Death: February 2011
Father acquired custody after the mother of the baby’s under-aged mother died, and baby’s mother was placed in foster care. Father had previous arrests for battery, and is charged with 1st-degree murder. Father found guilty of manslaughter in February 2014.
Father: CHAUNCEY ROBINSON
Victim(s): Chavon Robinson (22 months)
Date of Death: February 2008
Father convicted in December 2009 of murdering child during visitation.
Jackson County
Father: WESLEY JONATHAN WILLIAMS
Victim(s): Danielle Baker (mother), sons Ahmaad (4 years) and Amarion (1 year), and unrelated infant.
Date of Death: 2005
Father allegedly committed quadruple murder because he was angry about child support. In October 2009, found guilty on four counts of 1st-degree murder.
Lake County
Father: RICHARD L. ADAMS
Victim(s): Kayla McKean (6 years)
Date of Death: 1998
Custodial father convicted in daughter's beating death. Had been subject of multiple CPS investigations.
Lee County
Father: MANUEL DE JESUS ROSALES
Victim(s): Karminda Rosales Salazar (20-year-old daughter that survived stabbing), grandson Josue Rosales (2 months)
Date of Death: May 2010
Custodial father sexually abused daughter, she gave birth to older child who survives. Father then attacked adult daughter with knife, and stabbed to death son she had with boyfriend. As of June 2012, it was reported that Rosales may escape the death penalty because of his lawyer's refusal to go to Roslales' hometown in Honduras in order to investigate his client's past. In September 2012, father pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder and attempted 1st-degree murder. He was later sentenced to life in prison.
Father: RYAN COSTELLO
Victim(s): Darwin (3 months)
Date of Death: June 2010
Father charged with 2nd-degree murder, but in November 2010, Costello released on bond and Judge J. Seals granted him visitation with surviving son. In March 2013, father convicted of manslaughter.
Manatee County
Father: TIMOTHY R. BROWN
Victim(s): Alexandra Brown (10 years)
Date of Death: January 2013
Father killed daughter during weekend custody/visitation. Murder-suicide took place in Ohio, where father had transported daughter contrary to the custody agreement.
Miami-Dad County
Father: JAVON DADE
Victim(s): Javon Dade Jr. (4 years)
Date of Death: August 2014
Boy killed by father's pit bull during visitation. Somehow father managed to maintain custody/visitation rights despite criminal history (including convictions) for drug violations and battery. Father and girlfriend both charged with child neglect.
Father: ANGEL LUIS VILLEGAS
Victim(s): Jayden Antonio Villegas-Morales (2 years)
Date of Death: July 2013
One month after being awarded custody, father charged with 2nd-degree murder of 2-year-old son. Past history of chronic unemployment, domestic violence, and "anger issues." Dad pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison in August 2015.
Okaloosa County
Father: GRANT SHERWIN
Victim(s): Logan Sherwin (2 years)
Date of Death: December 2011
Child’s death took place at home of (apparently custodial) father and fiancée (who is not the mother). Both charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect. Father pleaded not guilty to all charges in February 2012. Dad's charges upgraded to homicide in October 2012. In May 2013, father found guilty of one count of cruelty toward a child and 10 counts of child neglect, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Orange County
Father: ROOSEVELT BRADLEY II
Victim(s): Roosevelt Bradley III (8 months)
Date of Death: August 2009
Father arrested for murder of infant while mother in battered women's shelter. In January 2012, sentenced to life in prison on 2nd-degree murder charges. It is reported that mother was not allowed to testify about father's history of domestic violence at trial.
* Father: WILFRED EXILASSE
Victim(s): Elijah Exilasse (4 years)
Date of Death: September 2012
Mother had moved to Colorado, father filed custody petition demanding visitation. Three weeks into summer visitation, boy died from blunt force trauma. Father had previously been granted shared custody of boy but lost it due to neglect. Father charged with "aggravated child abuse" though son's death has been ruled a homicide. Father finally charged with 1st-degree murder in March 2013. In April 2014, father pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Osceola County
Father: MELVIN ORTIZ
Victim(s): Unnamed Son (5 years)
Date of Death: July 2009
Son beaten to death while visiting father, stepmother. As of May 2011, no trial had been scheduled for Ortiz. As of November 2014, unable to determine outcome.
Palm Beach County
*Father: TONY CAMACHO
Victim(s): Crystal Camacho (8 years), Nelson Camacho (10 years)
Date of Death: December 2006
Father and mother were finalizing divorce. During Christmas visitation, father stabbed daughter, then killed her and brother in arson murder-suicide. Mother had unsuccessfully petitioned for protection. Article from November 2010 mentions that surviving mother Jennie Carter is now an advocate for victims of domestic violence.
Father: NATHAN MADDOX
Victim(s): Shelby (3 weeks)
Date of Death: 2010
Despite extensive criminal history, father granted custody of newborn daughter. After autopsy showed that baby died from blunt force trauma to the head, father charged with 2nd-degree murder in October 2011. As of November 2014, unable to locate any update.
Pasco County
Father: THOMAS LUDWIG
Victim(s): Diella Ludwig (2 months)
Date of Death: December 2008
CPS granted father custody of infant twins. Father charged with 1st-degree murder in Diella's death, and was convicted in November 2010.
Pinellas County
Father: JOHN NICOLAS JONCHUCK
Victim(s): 5-year-old daughter
Date of Death: January 2015
Despite history of domestic battery, DUI, father had custody. Had previously accused daughter's mother of DV, and attempted to get order of protection. Threw daughter off bridge, killing her.
Polk County
Father: LESTER ROSS JR.
Victim(s): MaSarah Ross (3 years), Ronkeya Holmes (child's mother)
Date of Death: MaSarah was allegedly killed in 2009 during out-of-state visitation with her father. When father refused to return child to mother in Georgia, she drove down to Florida to investigate, and father reputedly killed her then. Bodies of mother, daughter not found till December 2010. father finally indicted on 1st-degree murder charges in December 2012.
Santa Rosa County
Father: DAVID “HAMILTON” COOK
Victim(s): Hayden (2 months)
Date of Death: September 2010
Despite extensive drug problems, father granted overnight visitation with infant son. Baby died of asphyxiation on second overnight visit. As of November 2014, unable to located any update.
Sarasota County
Father: JAMES DEARMAN
Victim(s): 6-year-old son
Date of Death: January 2016
Father charged with aggravated manslaughter in suffocation death of son. Mention of live-in girlfriend, no mention of mother.
Father: KENNETH STODDARD
Victim(s): Melissa Stoddard (11 years)
Date of Death: December 2012
Father gained custody in November 2011; mother lived out of state in North Carolina. Father and step accused of repeatedly hogtying the girl for "behavior problems." She died of asphyxiation after being tied to a plywood board with duct tape placed over her mouth. In December 2013, father's charges upgraded to aggravated manslaughter. Father finally convicted in September 2014. Step convicted of 1st-degree murder in June 2014.
Seminole County
Father: FIDEL JUAREZ-AVILA, SR
Victim(s): Aurelia Juarez (14 months)
Date of Death: June 2008
In March 2010, custodial father sentenced to 21 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter in death of daughter.
Volusia County
Father: DAVID MOHNEY
Victim(s): Savanna (14 years), David (11 years), Lauren ( 9 years) in critical condition
Date of Death: October 2014
Parents were in the process of getting a divorce. Father had been a "stay at home" who had failed chiropractor exam. Father wanted full custody of children and moveaway rights. Mother fled the home after he threatened her with a gun. He then shot the three children (killing two) before killing himself. Father had previously labeled the mother as the alcoholic child abuser, and tried to get an order of protection against her.
Father: MICHAEL REESE
Victim(s): Jeremiah Reese (14 years)
Date of Death: September 2009
Jeremiah Reese died of "accidental overdose" at the home of his custodial father. Father had long history of abuse, neglect with CPS.