Dallas police defend response to double homicide
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas Police are being pressed for answers after two small children were left in a northeast Dallas apartment for several days following their parents' murders.
Jimena Nunez Sandoval, 24, was found murdered in the apartment along with her children's father David Deshawn Stewart, 27.
Sandoval's relatives told CBS 11 that a neighbor called police after hearing gunshots at the Northridge Court apartments Sunday night. The couple's bodies weren't discovered until Wednesday.
"She heard scuffling in the apartment," said Sandoval's sister-in-law Lizette Faz. "She heard David screaming. She couldn't understand what he said, but she heard gunshots."
Just hours earlier, the family had gathered at another relative's home to celebrate a birthday. So Faz says they weren't concerned when they didn't hear from her for a few days.
"It's horrible, you know?" as a fresh batch of tears begins to roll down her cheek. "She was always happy, full of life... not one bad bone in her body."
A neighbor told the family that they found the couple's 3-year-old daughter alone outside on Wednesday and then heard the 8-month-old baby's cries. Police were summoned back to the scene after the couple's bodies were discovered.
"She said she tried waking up her mommy," Faz said through tears. "She said she tried waking up her mommy... and her dad. Last night she couldn't sleep, she kept asking for her mom and her dad."
The family is now frightened, grieving and fundraising to pay for a funeral - and to help provide for two small girls orphaned by a killer. They also are questioning the police response.
"Gunshots were heard," Faz said, "Why are you not going to check on whoever is inside that apartment?"
Another cousin, who said her name was Emily, wonders whether the location was a factor. "If they were in another type of neighborhood, a neighborhood with money, they would have," she shared through tears.
In response to CBS 11's questions, a Dallas police spokesperson responded via email saying officers "knocked on the door several times" and "listened at the door for sounds."
After checking nearby apartments "with officers not hearing or seeing any signs of anyone inside the apartment or a sign of a disturbance, officers cleared the call and went back into service."
Police late Thursday afternoon confirmed that the victims' black 2014 Nissan Sentra, Texas License Plate HNT9708 is missing from the parking lot. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Dallas police. As they do with all felony crimes, Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
"We don't understand why," says Faz. "Why to them?"
