A Miami-Dade man has been arrested in the killing of his elderly father who he claimed fell inside their home, police said.
David Scott Buer, 53, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in the death of 81-year-old Paul Buer, an arrest report said.
According to the report, it was just before 1 a.m. Saturday when Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue responded to an apartment in the 9900 block of Northwest 6th Lane for an unresponsive man.
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David Buer, who'd contacted police, met with emergency crews and directed them to a bedroom where his father was lying in bed unresponsive, the report said.
Fire rescue crews pronounced the father dead at the scene. Authorities noted he had numerous bruises on his face, neck, torso, arms and minor lacerations on both arms.
David Buer, who has been his father's sole caretaker for the previous two years, said his father had suffered a partial fall a few days earlier which caused the bruises and lacerations, the report said.
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The son added that the injuries to his father's arms were from him being assisted back into bed, the report said.
But apparent blood spatters were found on nearby window blinds and blood smears were found on the father's bed, and several paper towels were found throughout the home soaked in blood, the report said.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy that determined Paul Buer's cause of death was "homicidal violence including strangulation" and classified the manner of death as homicide, the report said.
The extent of his injuries didn't coincide with David Buer's statements, and the medical examiner said the injuries weren't consistent with a fall, the report said.
David Buer was taken into custody and questioned by detectives but "provided a self-serving statement, advising that the victim suffered a fall and struck the walker a few days prior," the report said.
The report said David Buer was also found with injuries to his outer forearms and hands, the report said.
David Buer was booked into jail and later appeared before a judge, who ordered him held without bond and appointed him a public defender.
Records showed David Buer has a lengthy arrest record that includes elderly battery, theft, burglary and drug possession.
Neighbors who spoke with NBC6 on Monday said they saw police and paramedics at the apartment but were shocked to learn what had happened.
"He's been taking care of him for a long time, which is very nice of him. I never realized that he didn't have, that he was the only family he had and he took care of him," one neighbor said. "Maybe he got tired of doing what he was doing."
