By Marlyn Montilla
03 Apr 2024, 15:42 PM EDT
A Hispanic man fatally stabbed his wife and son before trying to take his own life from a drug overdose, according to an arrest warrant.
Identified as Jean Carlos Aponte, 40, he is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the March 26 slayings of his wife, Sara Ashley Gama, and their two-year-old son, Ethan Aponte, and is jailed in the jail without bail.
The arrest warrant indicates that Gama’s father called 911 that afternoon after discovering the 38-year-old woman on the kitchen floor covered in blood and Aponte unconscious in the master bedroom, and reported his grandson missing.
Mother and son were pronounced dead at the scene. The couple’s 4-month-old baby was found unharmed.
The 2-year-old boy had four stab wounds in the neck and defensive injuries on his hand, the police explained. The cause of his murder was determined to be sharp force injury and drowning.
Gama, for her part, was stabbed 28 times and had lacerations to her face, neck and abdomen, officials said. Additionally, she was found with fractures and defensive wounds. They also indicated that the cause of her death was due to a severe injury, NBC Miami reported.
The authorities administered Narcan, after finding the Hispanic man unconscious, and took him to a hospital, where he was stabilized. He had his first court hearing, where a judge ordered him to undergo a mental health examination.
A Plantation man stabbed his wife and son to death before trying to take his own life, an arrest warrant reveals. https://t.co/StVf1OIS4w
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) April 1, 2024
NBC6 spoke with Aponte’s ex-wife and said the man struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the military.
“To be able to commit something like that is really sad and really scary,” said his ex-wife, who did not want to show her face or reveal her identity.
She was married to the man for more than a year, she mentioned that he was not a bad person, but things got worse after getting married.
“After we got married was when he started showing some scary signs. In addition to being verbally abusive, he got to a point where he was physical,” he expressed.
“He grabbed me badly. He would push me to the ground. I know that one time he slammed the door on my arm because he was so angry. “It got to a point where I was scared all the time.”
Aponte tried to seek help for his mental health and began filing a claim with Veterans Affairs to get an official diagnosis. He also approached a veterans foundation in 2023 to ask for their services to help him with his post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.
The Hispanic man and his ex-wife separated in 2015. She said she never thought she would take her illness to the point of killing her wife and son.
“It’s sad to know that he didn’t get help in time or that they didn’t help him in time,” he said.
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