Cousin says she begged gunman to let three women leave before he killed his ex, then himself
By Chelsea Jones, Ana Maria Soler
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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Florida (WFOR) — The cousin of a woman killed in a murder-suicide at a northeast Miami-Dade apartment complex says she begged the gunman to let her, her cousin, and their aunt leave before he shot her cousin and then himself.
Maria Espinosa said she watched her cousin, Denise Polo Fuentes, die. She said she, Polo Fuentes, and their aunt went to the 55-and-over complex on Wednesday night to pick up Polo Fuentes’ belongings. Espinosa said Polo Fuentes’ ex, Frank Paba, was there and wasn’t acting like himself.
“He told us everyone here is gonna die tonight,” Espinosa said, according to a translation of her remarks in Spanish.
“I was begging for the lives of the three of us, for my life, my cousins, and for my sisters. Pleading with him to let us leave, saying we had our children,” she said, in translation.
Espinosa said Paba then shot Polo Fuentes in the heart and then shot himself.
Paba’s sister, Yolima Paba, said her brother and Polo Fuentes had not been together for two months.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said the woman went to the apartment near Northeast 14th Avenue and 170th Street shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday to retrieve her belongings. Investigators said the man shot and killed her and then turned the gun on himself.
A neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said she knew the couple and that Polo Fuentes had told her she was done with Paba. The neighbor said the area is typically quiet.
It is unclear whether this was the first domestic incident between the two. CBS News Miami has asked the Sheriff’s Office and is waiting for a response.
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