Davenport man kills adult stepson after a child grabbed gun while being punished for playing Fortnite: Police
DAVENPORT, Fla. - An argument over a video game turned deadly in Davenport on Wednesday night.
The backstory:
According to the Davenport Police Department, around 7 p.m., a 9-year-old boy was in his 26-year-old brother’s bedroom playing Fortnite, a game that had been banned by his parents.
The boy’s mother, 48-year-old Adriane Daza, found out he had been playing the video game and punished him by taking away his cell phone.
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Police said the child was upset that his cell phone had been taken away, and he went into his mother’s bedroom and pulled a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun from the nightstand drawer.
Kelly Garcia mugshot courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Daza and her husband, 43-year-old Kelly Agar Garcia, struggled with the 9-year-old to get a hold of the gun and Garcia was eventually able to grab it.
That’s when the boy’s brother, 26-year-old Azareel J. Martinez, entered the bedroom and saw the boy in an agitated state and Garcia holding the gun.
Dig deeper:
"Kelly Garcia was very much a disciplinarian," said Davenport Police Chief Steven Parker. "And he ruled the household as such. The 26-year-old didn't particularly care for the way he was disciplining the young children and running the household."
According to police, Martinez and Garcia got into an argument and Garcia shot Martinez several times in the chest and abdomen.
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Police said Martinez backed out of the bedroom and Garcia followed him and shot him two more times in the back before he collapsed.
Martinez was taken to an area hospital where he died from multiple gunshot wounds.
"The nine-year-old, a lot of his conversations were about his brother," said Parker. "I don't have a brother anymore."
Azareel j. Martinez was shot to death by his stepfather on Wednesday night, according to Davenport police. Image is courtesy of the family.
Garcia has been charged with second-degree murder and unlawful storage of a firearm (accessible to a minor). Police looked at the potential that it was self-defense, but they said Azareel was shot in the back.
"We do not believe there's anything to support that Azareel was physically aggressive towards him," said Parker.
"We have a nine-year-old that knows where stepdad keeps his gun and goes to it," said Parker. "I truly believe that if that child did not know that where that gun was, none of this would have happened today, none of it."
This all leaves a mother without one of her three children and a nine and eleven-year-olds dealing with the trauma of seeing their step-dad shoot their 26-year-old brother.
"It's just a tragic situation for somebody that young," said Parker. "So I truly hope, and I truly feel, that as they grow that they'll be able to do things to help overcome this and lead productive lives."
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Davenport Police Department.
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