WESTCHESTER, Fla. – A South Florida family that has endured unthinkable heartbreak in recent years following the murder of their teenage grandson has now lost everything in a house fire.
“They lost everything,” said the victim’s aunt, Claudia Cueli Cuomo. “Like, everything.”
Angel’s mother told Local 10 News that he lived at the home at one point with his grandparents, sister, father and herself at one point. The grandparents still live at the home.
That is, until it was destroyed on Thursday by a fire.
“The fire started back here. My mom was… they were laying there taking a nap and one of them smelled smoke,” Cuomo said. “By the time they opened the sliding glass door, all it did was give the fire oxygen and poof.”
The flames spread quickly.
Cuomo’s parents were able to get out safely but the house in Westchester is a complete loss, and they didn’t have homeowner’s insurance.
“They went to renew the homeowners insurance but they denied them because we needed to do the roof, so we were moving on to the roof next week so we could get the homeowners insurance and…timing huh?” Cuomo said.
Unfortunately, the family is no stranger to tragedy.
Just about three years ago, they had to bury 15-year-old Angel after he was killed at a party in October of 2019. He was an innocent victim, shot by gang members who were aiming at teens in a rival gang.
Now, just as the family had begun to heal, they’re dealing with yet another blow.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Cuomo said.
One of her parents did suffer some burns but is expected to be OK.
The family has started a GoFundMe to try and raise some money to get back on their feet, and that page can be found by clicking here.