DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Detectives were investigating the deaths of a 42-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman after violence at a leasing community in eastern Broward County.
Deputies found Dareika Chery dead shortly after 1:45 a.m., on Monday at Elevate, an apartment building near a natural preserve with walking trails in Dania Beach.
Neighbors said they heard the noise coming from the eighth floor of the building along East Dania Beach Boulevard, near Southeast Fifth Avenue.
“The caller is advising a neighbor is yelling for help, possibly in 812, advising banging on something, hearing a male yelling at a female,” a dispatcher said, according to a Broward County Sheriff’s Office recording.
Deputies reported finding Chery, of Lauderhill, dead inside an apartment after suffering several stab wounds.
Deputies found Chris Little, a resident at Elevate, injured in the hallway after he broke into a fifth-floor apartment, according to BSO deputies. Fire rescue personnel took him to a hospital where he later died.
The noises residents heard were so disturbing that Santiago Moreno said he decided to move a sofa to block his apartment’s main door for fear the attacker would get inside.
“It sounded like when you punch a wall very, very hard,” Moreno said.
There were bloody hand prints on the door of unit 825. Cicely Williams said her floor’s hallway turned into a gruesome crime scene.
“There was blood everywhere,” Williams said.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
