HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Gloria Fluitt said she knows what it's like to be in an abusive relationship. She said it pained her to watch her son be abusive to the mother of her grandchildren.
This is why she said she wanted Deborah Ramos-Arce to leave her son David Fluitt. The two had a history of domestic violence and on Friday morning it was be the last time they fought.
They didn't kill each other. Omar Dopico, 19, was on edge. He had a pending burglary case that had been filed in Miami-Dade court Tuesday.
When he heard them arguing, Dopico "came out of the room, because he lived there too, and he confronted my son, and my son is the type of person who will snap in a minute," Gloria Fluitt, said.
Dopico told Miami-Dade Police Department detectives that he was defending Ramos-Arce when Fluitt charged at him and he was forced to shoot about 7 a.m. in a mobile home where eight people lived at Cocowalk Estates Homeowners, 220 NE 12 Ave., in Homestead.
Fluitt and Ramos-Arce were bleeding on the ground when Fluitt lifted his head to look at Dopico and said, "Look what you did," before Dopico fired one last gunshot into his head, according to the arrest report.
Dopico, who also has a history of robbery and marijuana possession, wasn't supposed to have a gun and he also wasn't supposed to be near Fluitt. A judge had already issued a stay-away order.
According to Miami-Dade detectives the murders of Ramos-Arce, 35, and Fluitt, 31, happened while there were four children, ages 1 to 10, and a teenage girl in the home.
Ramos-Arce and Fluitt, who was arrested in July on a battery charge, were the parents of two of the children, ages 1 and 5. The two older children were from Fluitt's previous relationship. And Dopico was at the home because he was dating Ramos-Arce's 17-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
The Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Beatriz Lopez said the four children and the teen were in their custody.
The five minors were also in a home with two men linked to drug trafficking. Miami-Dade police officers found about 95 grams of marijuana in small plastic baggies and 34 pills of Xanax. David Fluitt had a history of marijuana and cocaine trafficking that went back to 2005.
Officers arrested Dopico Friday on first-degree murder, second-degree murder, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and possession of marijuana with the intent to sell, manufacture and deliver.
Detective Argemis Colome said the investigation was still ongoing. Meanwhile, Gloria Fluitt said some of the advise she had given Ramos-Arce was haunting her.
"I love you because you are like my daughter," Fluitt said she remembers telling her. "You got my grandkids, but if any abuse is going on, I would rather for you to leave."