Army vet's wife stabbed 28 times, toddler found fatally stabbed in backyard pool: Warrant
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A United States military veteran has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection to the double stabbing of his wife and toddler in South Florida, court records show.
Jean Carlos Aponte, 40, was arrested after police said his wife, Sara Ashley Gama, 38, and 2-year-old son, Ethan Aponte, were found dead at the family's home in Plantation last week. The city is in Broward County about six miles from Fort Lauderdale.
On the afternoon of March 26, Plantation Police reported, officers responded to the home, found the mother and the toddler dead, and found Aponte unconscious.
Aponte was taken to a hospital in critical condition suffering from a possible drug overdose, police wrote in a news release.
Police Detective Robert Rettig said detectives are investigating the case as an apparent murder-suicide attempt.
Aponte was released over the weekend, Broward County Sheriff's Office online records show, and booked into jail where he was being held without bond Tuesday.
"Due to the active status of this investigation, no further information is available at this time," Rettig told USA TODAY Tuesday.
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Sara Gama stabbed 28 times, Ethan Aponte also stabbed multiple times
According to an arrest warrant obtained by WTVJ-TV, Gama's father dialed 911 after finding his daughter on the kitchen floor "covered in blood and Aponte unconscious in the master bedroom." First responders reportedly found the couple's 2-year-old boy face down in a pool in the backyard.
The couple's 4-month old son was found unharmed, the outlet reported police wrote in the warrant.
His older brother suffered stab wounds to his neck and defensive injuries to his hand, police wrote in the warrant, and the child's preliminary cause of death was listed as a combination of sharp force injury and drowning.
The toddler's mother was stabbed 28 times, according to the warrant, and suffered wounds to her face, neck and abdomen. Her preliminary cause of death, police wrote, was the result of sharp force injury.
Aponte appeared in court in Broward County on Sunday and during the hearing, WTVJ-TV reported, a judge ordered him to undergo a mental health screening.
USA TODAY has reached out to the victims' family members and friends.
Fellow service member: Aponte was suffering from traumatic brain injury
A motive in the double killing was not immediately known but Aponte, the outlet reported, previously reached out for help to address his mental health.
Army veteran Chris Haley told the TV station Aponte was suffering from "post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury" and had recently reached out to Catch A Lift Fund, a group that provides members of the military mental health support.
"That is the whole reason why our organization exists," the station reported Haley said. "So when it does happen, it's pretty shocking because that’s (kind of) what we're trying to avoid. He (Aponte) had very strong desire to make things right because he had a wife and a kid."
USA TODAY has reached out to the U.S. Army.
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An attorney of record for Aponte was not listed in court documents.
His next court date had also not yet been set.
Anyone with information about the double killing is asked to contact Plantation police.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.