Family members and the community are remembering a 2-year-old girl whose life was cut short in Pembroke Pines this past May. Police say the child was killed by her own father. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons reports.
Family members and the community are remembering a 2-year-old girl whose life was cut short in Pembroke Pines this past May. Police say the child was killed by her own father.
There was a candlelight vigil Saturday for Melody Alana Rose Duran at Hollywood North Beach Park.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
Her father, Jeronimo Duran is accused in the brutal murder of his daughter back in May. Pembroke Pines Police say the child had a large cut across her neck.
An arrest report says detectives found a knife on the kitchen floor that had blood on the handle and blade. The report says Duran's grandmother walked in the house and saw Duran lying on top of his daughter and yelled at him get off, what are you doing?
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
On March 5, 2023, Melody´s mother, 35, took her daughter and moved out, later claiming in court papers Duran was “erratic, aggressive, violent and dangerous” to her and their daughter.
The warnings came in a custody dispute with Duran, who went to court seeking confirmation of his paternity and shared parental responsibility a month after they moved out of the Pembroke Pines home they shared with his grandmother.
The custody dispute was settled in March with a judge approving shared parental responsibility, finding it "in the minor child’s best interests." The settlement agreement included a parenting plan that allowed Duran to care for his daughter unsupervised. He was following that plan Tuesday morning when he picked Melody up and took her to the home where police say he killed her.
Local
Melody’s mother Mona Clarke was surrounded by family and friends Saturday as they celebrated her daughter’s life. Melody would’ve turned three Saturday.
“It's just been very difficult not having her around,” Clarke said. “My daughter was my world. She was very sweet, very vibrant, caring.”
Families Against Court Travesties was also at the candlelight. They're a nonprofit organization that supports families affected by what they describe as injustices in the family court system. They want to draw attention to the need for reforms to prevent similar tragedies. They also want to highlight what they call critical failures in mental health care and the family court system.
"She's devastated, the system failed her and her daughter and it's unfortunate, she was trying to work with the system and secure the safety of her daughter,” Maysel Bickham with Families Against Court Travesties said.
Duran says she feels the court system let her down.
“I feel angry about it,” Duran said. “Things could have been done differently.”
Duran is charged with first degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
