HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Police officers described a recent fatal domestic violence case in Hallandale Beach as “horrific.” Relatives identified the victim as Delfina “Lily” Perez, a mother of two who was about 20 weeks pregnant. She was 41.
Perez left her two children, ages 8 and 9, at a daycare in Hallandale Beach, where she was known to be punctual, police said. It was 9 p.m., when police officers responded to the daycare after she didn’t show up to pick them up, police said.
According to Grace Mariot, a spokeswoman for the Hallandale Beach Police Department, a relative picked up the kids from the daycare and later reported that while the cars that belonged to Perez and the kids’ father, Victor Chavez, were parked outside the home — no one answered the door.
“The family members informed officers about the parent’s history of domestic disputes, concerns over the father’s mental health, and prior threats,” Mariot wrote.
When Hallandale Beach police officers rushed into the home near Southwest Seventh Avenue and Seventh Court, they reported finding Chavez, 38, “lethargic and unresponsive” in a bedroom and Perez with “severe injuries” in a bathroom. Anne Foss, a neighbor, was shaken Sunday.
“I heard a lot of loud bangs; like somebody was banging on a door with something,” Foss said. “‘BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!’ It must have been six or eight.”
There were attempts to revive Perez, but fire rescue personnel pronounced her dead, and took Chavez, also known as Victor Ricardo Chavez Sanchez, to the hospital, police said. He confessed to the murder and attempted suicide, and police officers arrested him on Saturday, police said.
Kathy Morales, one of the couple’s neighbors, said Perez once told her Chavez struggled with jealousy, but she sensed more going on.
“He had the face of a madman,” Morales said in Spanish. “It was obvious that he was not a normal person.”
Broward County records show Broward Sheriff’s Office correctional deputies booked Chavez at the main jail Saturday in Fort Lauderdale. He appeared in County bond court on Sunday — facing two counts of second-degree murder — and needed a Spanish-English interpreter. The judge ordered a mental health screening.
Child Protective Investigative Services was investigating the case of the two children who were with relatives, police said. Cosme Abel De Leon Mazariegos, Perez’s younger sister, set up a GoFundMe to help take Perez’s remains to their native Guatemala.
“I am left to raise her two beautiful children along with mine now,” De Leon wrote. “Their lives will not be easy. They are the true victims of this tragedy.”
For help with domestic violence, call 1-800-799-7233, or 305-743-4440, or 954-761-1133, or visit this page.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
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