Pembroke Pines police: Mom of 5 stabbed to death during domestic incident; father arrested and charged
PEMBROKE PINES - Pembroke Pines police say a mother of 5 children has died after she was stabbed during a domestic incident with her husband.
CBS News Miami spoke with one of the children's godfathers who said he was in disbelief because "they were such a loving family."
Police say it all started Thursday morning at a home on Lacosta Drive in the Grand Palms community off Pines Boulevard just west of I-75 when dispatchers received a 911 call about a man attacking his wife with a knife. The caller said the man had locked himself in the garage while 5 children were inside the home.
There was a standoff for hours and police even shouted for the man to come outside. Police barricaded a number of streets and the SWAT team moved in and the man was taken into custody. The children were removed safely.
The mother was transported to a hospital but did not survive. The father was also transported with unspecified injuries.
Pembroke Pines captain Adam Feiner said it is not known what motivated the attack and he said the mother and father were not being identified. He said so far no arrest has been made.
"We have not identified who the person is beyond a reasonable doubt that would have been responsible for the homicide," Capt. Feiner said. "We do believe all the evidence is leading to a likely subject. We do not believe that we have a suspect on the loose that would be a danger to the community but we are not in a position where we can comfortably say we have made an arrest in this case at this point in time."
On Saturday afternoon, Pembroke Pines Police identified the father as 62-year-old Jorge Jose Sancler, and charged him with second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Feiner told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench "When the incident took place, the children were at home with an age range of 3 to 16 years old. Our officers responded immediately and took quick action and not only got the 5 children out of the house safely but they also removed the wife as quickly as possible."
Feiner said "This is a very difficult for the children to absorb all of this and our police department and the men and women with our agency are doing everything they're car to offer what resources were can because of the obstacles they are going to face."
Feiner said police were trying to unite the children with family members. He said he was not sure if police had been called to the house before for prior problems. He also said no officers were injured as a result of the response to the incident.
Peter Robinson said the family had rented the home since 2015.
He said "It is a lot going on right now that is going through my head. They are very dear friends. I am godfather to one of their daughters. And this is personal. This is very personal."
Robinson said "I still can't believe it. It is a shock to me. I can't picture this. This is such a loving family. She adored him and he adored her. And they had the same values."