HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Two days after a horrific domestic shooting inside of a Pembroke Park apartment that left a mother and three children dead, there is only one child who survived: 8-year-old Phiinix Solomon.
“I have one in there fighting and one I have to bury,” Rita Hanson, the grandmother of Phiinix and 11-year-old Zion Solomon, who did not survive, said.
6 p.m. report:
She spoke at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood Friday, where Phiinix remained in critical condition. Their father, Kelvin Solomon, was there as well.
“(Phiinix) had to go through a lot of trauma,” Hanson said. “She survived quite a few gunshots.”
The children’s mother, 32-year-old Julie Cruz, was killed after investigators say her partner, 34-year-old Stephen McKenzie, opened fire on his family inside of the couple’s apartment building at 3181 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. on Wednesday night.
Detectives believe McKenzie then shot his own two sons, Nova and Emery, both just 2 years old, killing them both.
And then, according to police, he shot their other siblings, critically injuring Phiinix and killing Xion, who were from a previous relationship between Solomon and Cruz, all before turning the gun on himself. But he survived.
Solomon said Xion died trying to protect his siblings.
“He died protecting his mother and protecting his sister,” he said.
Records show he had no known criminal history. Solomon says McKenzie and Cruz were on the verge of a rocky separation. He said, “Domestic violence is definitely a scary thing.”
“You have to save your kids,” Hanson said. “If you don’t think about yourself, think about your children.”
McKenzie was still at the hospital as of Friday evening and technically in law enforcement custody.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case on behalf of Pembroke Park police.