Longwood dad named person of interest after daughters stabbed, 4-year-old killed
By Gail Paschall-Brown
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LONGWOOD, Florida (WESH) — A child is dead and two people are seriously injured after they were all stabbed in Longwood.
Police named the children’s father, 39-year-old Juan Bravo-Torres, as a person of interest in the case.
It was early Thursday morning inside a home on Highland Street when officers found a 4-year-old girl dead, Sgt. Derek Chenoweth stated.
A 12-year-old girl and Bravo-Torres were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Police said they found Bravo-Torres with stab wounds believed to be self-inflicted.
Chenoweth said the critically injured 12-year-old girl had walked about a mile away from her home to a nearby McDonald’s to get help.
They described it as an isolated domestic incident and said there is no further threat to the public. Neighbors were saddened by the enormity of the loss.
“It’s just super sad, man. I mean, any loss of life is just horrible,” Sean McGee said. “Little scary. First thing I asked was, should I be worried? Should I be inside? Apparently, we’re OK. There’s no threat to the area.”
Rafhi Rodriguez and his wife have four young children and live in a neighborhood they say is usually very quiet.
“It’s sick,” Rodriguez said. “When I heard about it, I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken, because you know, having children.
“She was really brave, encouraged to walk a mile with a stab wound,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a true tragedy, I just feel like we definitely need to get some help out there for those people that need the help.”
The mother of the girls wasn’t home when all this happened. She found out at her job. Police say there have not been past issues here.
Chenoweth urged people in domestic violence situations to reach out to authorities for help.
“There is a lot of help people can get if they’re in a domestic situation and we encourage people to speak up. And if you think someone is in a domestic situation, and they’re not speaking up, speak up for them, so things don’t escalate into a critical incident,” Chenoweth said.
“It’s sick, again, any loss of life is terrible. But when it’s children, I have four young siblings so to have that to think about, that right outside the door…is heartbreaking,” McGee said.
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