Destiny Garcia, 15, has been charged with killing her mother and her mother’s boyfriend in Brooklyn. (Facebook)
A 15-year-old Brooklyn girl told detectives she killed her mother and her stepfather because she was abused by her mom, whose beau did nothing to stop it, police say.
Destiny Garcia has been charged with murder as an adult, the New York Times reports. It was previously reported she told police her mother’s boyfriend had sexually abused her, but detectives said she was only abused by her mother.
The bodies of Rosie Sanchez, and Anderson Nunez, 40, were found Sunday night in the Sheepshead Bay public housing complex where the three lived. Police say they were killed on December 27. The couple was found dead after a concerned friend told police they hadn’t been seen in days.
Investigators are still looking for another teen, believed to be a cousin or close family friend, who may have been involved in the slayings.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. She & Her Teen Friend Stabbed the Couple Several Times After Garcia Shot Them Both, Police Say
Rosie Sanchez and Anderson Nunez. (Facebook)
Police said they do not believe the killings were in self-defense.
“She said basically it was the mother that actually was abusive to her, physically abusive to her, in the past,” Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told the New York Daily News. “We don’t believe this was at all an act of self-defense. She went and got a gun…. That’s not consistent with someone (acting) in self-defense.”
Police sources said that the girl acquired a gun from her unidentified friend, and then confronted her mother after school, shooting her in the head, the New York Post reports.
Garcia then shot Nunez when he came into the room, hitting him in the arm. She called out for her friend to help as she struggled with her stepfather.
Prosecutor Tziyonah Langsam said at Garcia’s arraignment the friend grabbed the gun and shot Nunez in the back, the Post reports. Langsam said Garcia then stabbed Nunez “over 30 times.” She also stabbed her mother, likely after she had already died, the Post reports.
2. She Allegedly Convinced Her Friend to Help by Saying Nunez Had Raped Her
Couple murdered in Sheepshead bay. 15 yr old in custody. @wcbs880
Police are still looking for the teen friend involved in the killings, detectives said.
According to the New York Post, Garcia convinced him to get her a gun after saying she had been raped by Nunez, a claim police believe to be false.
The teen boy has been described as a close family friend or a “God cousin” of Garcia.
3. She Went Shopping & Partied in Times Square on New Year’s Eve After the Killings
Police say Garcia partied in Times Square on New Year’s Eve after killing her mother and stepfather. (Getty)
After killing her mother and stepfather, Garcia went to stay with her biological father, telling him she had been in an argument with her mom, police said.
The girl then went shopping and partied on New Year’s Eve in Times Square, according to DNAInfo.com.
4. Detectives Say She Confessed to the Murders When Interviewed With Her Father
After police found her mother and stepfather dead, they tracked down Garcia through her father.
Detectives said she confessed during a videotaped interview with her father present, the New York Times reports.
Garcia was arraigned Monday night and was held in custody. She is set to be back in court on Wednesday.
5. Neighbors Say Garcia & Her Mother Seemed to Be Having ‘Problems’
Sanchez and Nunez. (Facebook)
Neighbors said it appeared Garcia and her mother had been having issues recently.
“It looked like they had problems,” Tiffany Jackson told the New York Post.
“She had an I-don’t-want-to-be-here-type attitude, like, ‘I can’t wait until she leaves,'” Jackson told the New York Times.
But Sanchez and Nunez were described as a happy couple. According to their Facebook pages, they married in 2010.
“I can’t believe it,” another neighbor, Amy Moya, told the New York Daily News. “They (the couple) were always happy and laughing. They were always walking together as a couple. In the summer they would always go together to the beach.”