PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Eight-year-old Phiinyx Solomon is walking again — a miracle, her family says, after surviving a domestic-related shooting that left her mother and three siblings dead in Pembroke Park last month.
“She is living true to her name … she is fighting,” said Irma Riviera, Phiinyx’s grandmother.
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Riviera is the mother of Julie Cruz, who authorities say was in a relationship with 34-year-old Stephen McKenzie.
Detectives say Cruz, 32, had planned to leave the relationship, but McKenzie, who reportedly struggled with mental health, opened fire on the family in a murder-suicide.
“She was going to leave him this week,” Riviera said. “She was exhausted mentally and emotionally from his bipolar.”
According to investigators, McKenzie shot and killed his twin 2-year-old sons, Nova and Emmry on March 26. They said eleven-year-old Zion was also gunned down trying to protect his mother.
Phiinyx, who was shot multiple times, miraculously survived.
Investigators confirmed that McKenzie died after turning the gun on himself.
Video shows Phiinyx in recovery — walking again, with strength that doctors and family members call nothing short of incredible.
Riviera says Phiinyx is the reason she can keep going, even through unimaginable grief.
“She is my oxygen, so right now it’s a little hard to breathe without her here,” she said, referring to her late daughter.
Despite the heartbreak, Riviera holds on to faith.
“She’s such a strong little girl and I am so grateful she is here with us,” Riviera added.
Phiinyx remains in recovery as loved ones rally around her, calling her the light in the darkest of moments.
Her family created a GoFundMe account to help with her medical bills. Click here if you would like to contribute.
