A Florida child called a relative for help after a man fatally shot his 15-year-old daughter and three others in a Cocoa home on Wednesday, authorities said.
The victims were identified as 15-year-old Kiara Terwilliger and her mother, 35-year-old Constance Terwilliger, along with 63-year-old Glenda Terwilliger and 36-year-old Michael Watson, according to a news release from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. All four were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two children, ages 6 and 9, were also found unharmed inside the home on Alan Shephard Avenue in Canaveral Groves, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said during a Wednesday press conference.
Deputies were called to the scene around 2 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from someone claiming one of the uninjured children inside the home had contacted them about the shooting, according to the sheriff.
“Something like FaceTime, or something of that nature, through video contact, the small child told the reportee what had taken place and what they had seen at the house,” Ivey said.
“[The caller] kept the child on the video the entire time as they were concerned for the child’s safety,” Ivey added.
According to the sheriff, the suspect was identified as 36-year-old Domenico Gigante. He was the father of Kiara, and previously in a relationship with her mother, Constance.
“I’m going to tell you that this is an extremely violent individual with an extremely violent past dating back as far as 2005, who should have never been on our streets, where he could take the lives of this entire family,” Ivey told reporters.
Gigante was arrested in the afternoon and charged with four counts of first-degree premeditated murder, Ivey said.
He is currently being held at the Brevard County Jail with no bond. It is not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
A motive for the quadruple homicide remains unclear.
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