Child’s FaceTime call led deputies to Florida home where father killed teen daughter, 3 others: sheriff

A child trapped inside a Florida home where four people were fatally shot called a relative for help on Facetime, triggering a police response and the subsequent arrest of the suspected gunman.

The call came in around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said during a news conference. When deputies arrived on the scene in Canaveral Groves a short time later, they found the bodies of 15-year-old Kiarra Terwilliger and her mother Constance Terwilliger, 35, who was previously in a relationship with the suspect, identified as Domenico Gigante.

Ivey told reporters the teen victim was also Gigante’s daughter.

Two others, identified as Glenda Terwilliger, 63, and 36-year-old Michael Andrew Watson, were killed while a pair of children, ages 9 and 6, were found unharmed inside the home, the sheriff said. One of the children contacted a relative, who then raced to the home and called 911 upon discovering the grisly scene.

“Something like FaceTime, or something of that nature, through video contact, the small child told the reportee what had taken place and what they had seen at the house,” Ivey said.

“(The caller) kept the child on the video the entire time as they were concerned for the child’s safety.”

Gigante was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. He was arrested hours after the shooting and is being held without bail.

Ivey said a motive for the deadly violence was unclear and remains under investigation. He added authorities believe the shooting was an isolated incident and most likely domestic in nature.

“Folks, I’m gonna tell you this is an extremely violent individual with an extremely violent past,” he said of Gigante.

The suspect was previously arrested in 2005 for domestic violence and battery and again in 2008 for multiple counts of cruelty to animals. He was also charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault in 2012.