Eixchel Berroteran, known as Eixchelb to her 4.3 million TikTok followers, was shot at and nearly killed by her former stepfather who’s facing attempted murder and other charges in the incident, police said. NBC6’s Lorena Inclan reports
A South Florida social media influencer with a large following was shot at and nearly killed by her former stepfather who's facing attempted murder and other charges in the incident, police said.
Eixchel Berroteran, known as Eixchelb to her 4.3 million TikTok and 650,000 Instagram followers, documented the incident in a social media post.
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"Only God knows why I'm still here and I ask him to give me the strength to move on and that at some point he can heal my heart," she wrote in Spanish on Instagram in a post that included photos and videos of her bloodied hand and the other injuries she suffered.
Berroteran, who is originally from Venezuela, isn't named in the police arrest report nor is her mother, who was also a victim in the incident.
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According to the arrest report, the incident involved 64-year-old Luis Damas, who was married to Berroteran's mother for 13 years but has been separated from for seven months.
On Aug. 21, Damas showed up at the Miami apartment where the ex-wife and Berroteran were and knocked on the door, the report said.
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The ex-wife had a friend over and told Damas she'd contact him later, but a couple hours later as the friend was leaving Damas was in the hallway outside the apartment.
Damas and his ex-wife started to argue, and Damas started yelling and asking where Berroteran was located, saying "she was the reason they could not be together," the report said.
The ex-wife said Damas pushed her into the apartment and pulled out a gun, saying he was going to kill Berroteran, the report said.
Damas made his way to a bedroom where Berroteran was and pointed the gun at her, and she jumped off the bed and tried to hide under a mattress as Damas said "I'm going to kill you" and fired one shot, missing Berroteran, the report said.
The ex-wife said she started to wrestle with Damas as Berroteran jumped on him.
"I threw myself on the floor asking him to please not do anything, with the intention of getting under the bed, but I was very short and I decided to crawl towards him screaming for him to stop and at that moment I heard the shot that left me stunned; but my mom, who was already behind him, wrestled him so the shot didn’t hit me," Berroteran wrote on Instagram.
Damas started to bite his ex-wife and she started hitting him with a wine bottle, the report said.
"He bit my mom and pulled my hair very hard, we both screamed for help but until that moment no one listened, he kept insisting on shooting me and between the two of us we grabbed his hand where he held the gun and he always wanted to point it at me," Berroteran wrote.
The ex-wife pleaded with Damas to calm down and he started to but kept a hold of Berroteran by her hair and placed the gun under his thigh while sitting on a couch, the report said.
Damas agreed to sit and talk about the incident then demanded the ex-wife help him clean up the scene in the apartment, and he had her sweep and mop the floor and collect evidence from the scene and put it in a garbage bag, the report said.
Damas left the apartment as the ex-wife "advised him she would walk him out in an attempt to make him feel reassured that she was not going to contact the authorities," the report said.
The ex-wife later told investigators that they didn't contact police right away because Damas "threatened them that if police was contacted, he would have them killed by hitmen that he knew," the report said.
Berroteran's mother said they went to the hospital and contacted police the next day.
"There are no words to describe the terror, pain, trauma, anxiety and panic attacks this has caused us," Berroteran wrote on Instagram.
Damas was later arrested on charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, burglary with assault or battery, attempted tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment, and felony battery.
He appeared in court on Saturday where he was ordered held without bond.
"Today I can tell you that trauma hurts more than physical injuries, and that I really don't know how I will ever overcome this nightmare," Berroteran wrote. "I ask that you pray a lot for us and that justice is served. On my part I promise you that when I manage to heal even just a little…I will become the voice of all the people who have been victims of abuse, abuse and in this case..almost murdered."
