Another illegal immigrant has been charged with homicide in Lee County, Florida. This time though, the violence that was committed within a family’s home was “almost unimaginable.”
“It was an extremely violent scene, even for us. All homicide scenes are normally violent, but even for us, this scene was what we considered almost unimaginable,” Lt. Matt Sands said on Thursday.
Suspect Brian Hyde, 19, was pulled over for reckless driving and law enforcement officers arrested him when they found that he was covered in blood. He was subsequently charged with the killings of Dorla Pitts, 37, her pregnant 17-year-old daughter Starlette Pitts and Starlette’s boyfriend Michael Kelly Jr. He faces three counts of second-degree murder as well as a charge in the murder of Starlette's unborn baby.
The only person left alive in the home was an 18-month-old girl, orphaned when her parents Starlette Pitts and Michael Kelly Jr. were murdered with what is described as sharp force trauma.
Hyde, a native of Belize and Starlette’s cousin, was revealed to have illegally entered the U.S. in January through Texas. He was wanted in connection to a recent robbery and was suspected in a double murder case dated back to October of 2013. He was only charged with “handling stolen goods.” He was also arrested last November for assaulting a police officer, which he disputed.
Derquiasha Henderson, Michael’s sister, said it was supposed to be a happy time for their family. They were picking out names for the incoming baby. "We were just doing all of that, we were supposed to hang out.”
Henderson said that, in honor of the child's parents, the family will show the 18-month-old just how much she was loved by her now deceased parents.
"I can picture her trying to go to her mom and my brother and wake them up, because that's the type of baby she is. She love her parents, she loved them and they loved her," Henderson told WBBH-TV.
Both sides of the family are coming together now to decide how best to take care of the little girl. For now, what they say they need most is some time to heal from this grievous wound.