Relatives Of Slain Miramar Mother Doubt Tot Fired Weapon
MIRAMAR (CBS4) - It was a dramatic call to 911---a father telling a dispatcher that his 2-year-old son had fired the bullet that took the life of his mother. As police are probing this mystery, the victim's loved ones are raising questions about this story.
"We're not buying it," said Hugh Pearce, whose 33-year-old niece Julia Bennett was shot and killed about 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ashlar apartments off Pembroke Road near University Drive.
"We just don't think it happened that way," said Pearce. "But we want to see police finish their investigation."
Police did question the father for a long time before releasing him.
Bennett's loved ones spoke out for the first time Thursday night to CBS4's Peter D'Oench.
"We really didn't expect this," said Pearce. "She was a medical technician who had such a future. Yesterday I saw her doing her wash and her clothing and not I hear about this on the news. This is terrible."
It happened inside apartment number 303. The boy's father called 911 about the incident claiming that the boy used his 9 millimeter, semi-automatic glock pistol. Neighbors say they saw police testing the boy's hands for gun residue but police would not say what they found.
"All I have to say is Julia is a great person," said Tori Whitemore, Bennett's aunt. "She was a great person. She was high spirited. She always made everybody laugh. She loved her kids. She loved her family. All I can say is this is foolishness. This is such foolishness. That little boy didn't do anything."
Whitebroke broke down as she told D'Oench, "She's my cousin. I do love that girl.I loved her so much."
Bennett had three children. Family members said her son was named Troy. They say she had two daughters, Kevesha and Christina.
D'Oench also caught up with Christina's father, Jean Casimir of Northwest Miami-Dade. Casimir and Bennett had lived together for four years.
"I'm sad," Casimir said. "I don't know what to say. She was a sweet person, very nice, humble. This hurts. I can't believe it."
Inside their home, Casimir's father Jean Sr. broke down and cried out, "I'm very sorry. She was a nice person," he said.
Inside a West Miami-Dade store, one gun owner said he had serious questions about the claim that the two-year-old boy fired the gun.
"It's highly unlikely that this would have been possible because it requires five pounds of pressure to pull the trigger of a nine millimeter semi-automatic glock pistol like this one," said longtime gun owner Kevin Gleason. "Even if the gun was chambered and ready to fire, this would have been very difficult. I don't buy this story."
The two year old boy was placed in to the protective custody of DCF. There will be a shelter hearing for him on Friday morning at the Broward Courthouse. He has not been placed with any relatives so far.
Bennett's cousin and uncle told D'Oench that they would be at that hearing. They also said Bennett's father would be coming to South Florida for her funeral. They also contacted her mother in Jamaica and when she heard the news, they say she fainted.
