Father in custody after 3 boys, mother shot to death in Pembroke Park: BSO

A woman and her three children were shot and killed at an apartment complex in Pembroke Park Wednesday night, and authorities say it was the father of two of the children who pulled the trigger. 

The shooting happened before 7:30 p.m. near the 3100 block of Hallandale Beach Boulevard, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Pembroke Park Police officers responded to the 911 call about the gunfire and found the victims, 32-year-old Julie Cruz, 11-year-old Xion Solomon, 2-year-old Nova McKenzie and 2-year-old Emery McKenzie dead inside the apartment. 

Family Photo

Family Photo

An 8-year-old girl was also shot and was rushed to the hospital, where she is in serious condition, Broward Sheriff’s Office Public Information Office Claudinne Caro said. She said the deceased children are boys.

The suspect, 35-year-old Stephen McKenzie, is believed to have opened fire on Cruz and the children, and then himself. He is in the hospital in critical condition. 

McKenzie shared the 2-year-old children with Cruz, authorities said, but the extent of his relationship with Cruz was not clear.

"All the circumstances surrounding this case, what took place, what motivated this horrifying incident and the death of this mother and these children is still under investigation," Caro said.

Neighbors recall a quiet family, several shots

A neighbor who said he heard around eight shots fired said the people involved are a family. He said he saw stairs in the building covered in blood.

"It's crazy, because I saw the family like, many times. We live just in the same building, so I saw them," he said. "They looked like normal people, but you never know the problems of the people."

Neighbor Juan Feliciano said he heard several shots in quick succession, the children's screams and then "total silence."

He said the family has lived there for more than 15 years.

"They looked like a happy family," he said in Spanish. "Never [thought this would happen]. I saw them in the elevator at around 6 p.m. I went outside and we ran into each other in the elevator. They had a little boy... who was sweet."

Another neighbor who only wanted to be identified by her first name, Beverly, said she also heard eight shots, but first assumed they were firecrackers.

"And then I heard screams, I heard cries," she said. "I said, 'That ain't firecrackers. Ain't nobody crying behind no firecrackers.'"

Beverly said though she did not know the family well, it made her sad to think of "how loving they seemed to be."

"They were very quiet," she said. "And the father seemed very loving to his children, taking them to school every day. I would see him take them to school every day. I never heard anything loud, never arguing, nothing. You just see them come and go."

She believes in the moments prior to the shooting, the man was doing chores.

"Such a tragedy. Matter of fact... 20 minutes before it happened, he was taking laundry. Matter of fact, the laundry basket is still in the laundry room," she said.

'He was always so respectful'

The suspect's stepmother, Deon McKenzie, spoke to NBC6 about the murders. She and Stephen McKenzie's father are divorced.

"Very shocked about the situation," Deon McKenzie said.

She is currently out of town but said she is making her way back to South Florida to be with her children. She last saw her stepson a little more than a year ago.

"He was always so respectful, I wouldn't dream of seeing him doing something like this, especially to the kids, because he was so playful with kids, loving to kids. That part really gets to me, he has to be going through something," Deon McKenzie said. "I don't think he reacted out of his own mind because he's really a lover of kids."