Grieving mother says son killed by police in Homestead needed help for schizophrenia

Relatives identify man killed during police-involved shooting as Leandro Francisco Ledea Chong

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A mother was grieving her 34-year-old son on Sunday in Homestead. He died during a police-involved shooting on Saturday at his home.

Katia Chong showed Local 10 News bullet holes peppered the front door and interior walls of his home, and his blood was on the floor and walls.

Through tears, she said her son Leandro Francisco Ledea Chong lived with schizophrenia, which usually involves hallucinations and delusions.

“He was a good kid and the police killed him as if he was an assassin or as if he would have committed a crime,” the grieving mother said in Spanish.

Katia Chong said her son was going through a mental health crisis when loved ones called the police for help on Friday. Madeleine Cabrera, his girlfriend, said he was close to getting the help he needed before police officers fatally shot him on Saturday at the Villas of Sunrise development.

“The 22nd was his day in court. A judge ordered him to go to a mental health hospital,” Cabrera said.

Leandro Francisco Ledea Chong, who police officers killed on Saturday in Homestead, had been arrested on Oct. 14, 2023, left, and Sept. 18, 2023 in Miami-Dade County, records show. (MDCR)

Capt. Fernando Morales, a spokesman for the Homestead Police Department, said the standoff on Friday ended without incident. A witness video shows Leandro Chong standing at the front door and talking to himself. He had a fanny bag.

Morales said police officers responded to a report of shots fired at the same house on Saturday morning and Leandro Chong threw things at police officers and had his hands inside a fanny bag before the police-involved shooting.

On a GoFundMe page, Luisa Delvals and Karen Jam described Leandro Chong as “an amazing stepfather and an amazing husband.” They claim that all he had in his fanny pack were his keys, a rehab brochure, and a screwdriver.

After the police-involved shooting, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was conducting an investigation and the officers involved were on administrative leave.

Related stories

Related weekend reports

Miami-Dade crime scene investigations responded to a police-involved shooting on Saturday morning in Homestead. (Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

Clarification: Local 10 News has not seen the alleged video evidence referenced on the GoFundMe page mentioned in this story.


About the Authors
Terrell Forney headshot

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.

Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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