FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff's Office has released the names of two women and a baby found slain in a Lauderdale Lakes apartment.
Three people were found dead inside a home at a Lauderdale Lakes apartment complex Sunday. BSO has identified the victims as Natasha Plummer, 25, her 6-month-old son, Carlton Stringer Jr., and Octavia Barnett, 21.
"I just busted out into tears and cried," grandmother Delmyra Lambert told Local 10's Ross Palombo.
She was facing her daughter's and her grandson's death online because she lives hundreds of miles away. She was reading sad messages left on Facebook.
"And, I was just so sad! You know, telling me that they're sorry for my loss."
Police would only say it was some sort of violent ending, but would not specify how they died.
"The police have not talked to me, told me anything," Lambert said.
"I just don't believe it, really don't. I don't understand why someone would do that to her!" Lambert said. "I don't care how long it takes: I want 'em caught!"
Plummer was a graduate of Hallandale High School's class of 2006. Barnett was her friend and roommate.
On the day before her death, Plummer had written on her Facebook page, "Happy six month Carlton Jr. Mommy luvs you dearly."
A friend found the bodies of the three victims Sunday.
"He went there to do a welfare check on the people who live there, these two women and the baby," said Dani Moschella, of the Broward Sheriff's Office. "As soon as he opened the door, he knew something wasn't right."
Detectives spent Sunday collecting evidence. They said foul play is involved, but they have yet to release details about how the three were killed, a motive or a possible suspect.
"We know something terrible happened in this apartment. We just don't know exactly what," Moschella said.
A hearing was held Monday morning over the custody of Barnett's 11-month-old son, who was in the apartment at the time but was not injured. Judge John Fry did not want to make a hasty decision over the custody of the surviving child, so he ordered the Department of Children and Families to find suitable relatives with whom to place the boy by 6 p.m., a day after the killings.
If officials cannot find suitable relatives with whom the child can stay by 6 p.m. Monday, the judge will hold a status hearing Tuesday morning so the DCF can update the court on the child's condition and the placement options it is reviewing, the DCF said.
Detectives said the two women were friends and the two baby boys were not related. Investigators said they are focusing on several possible suspects, people close to both women, and are in the elimination stage. The motive remains a mystery.