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The fate of a surviving 11-month-old boy is also uncertain, as police have asked the Department of Children and Families to continue caring for the child until more is known about what happened to his mother and the other victims, rather than grant custody to relatives.
Elizabeth Carter, who lives in the apartment below where the murders took place, said she hasn't slept in her bedroom for the last two nights.
She says she heard gunshots early Saturday.
"Bang, bang, boom, and I jumped up," she said.
Twenty-four hours later, she smelled a stench and saw blood stains on her ceiling.
"That scared the devil out of me,” she said. “I'm telling the truth.”
Police say the bodies of 25-year-old Natasha Plummer, her 6-month-old son Carlton Stringer, Jr. and 21 year-old roommate Octavia Barnett were found in the apartment above Carter’s.
"The blood flowed right down where I heard those shots," she said.
Local
Outside the home Tuesday, loved ones placed teddy bears and candles to remember the young mothers and infant police say died a brutal death.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has released few details as to how they died. The motive remains a mystery.
In the meantime, the fate of Barnett’s 11-month-old son, who was in the apartment at the time of the homicides, remains uncertain.
Mark Riordan, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, said the baby is still in foster care and will remain there indefinitely.
“The child will remain in DCF custody until BSO clears the investigation and then we will place him with the approved relative,” Riordan said.
When asked why DCF did not place the baby with relatives, he said: “Because the detectives asked us to, which is unusual move, but we are going to defer to their request.”
"They have legitimate and specific concerns, and are not going to share those concerns at this point. As soon as they give us the all clear will place the child with his uncle,” he said.
The news was not what distraught grandmother Sonya White wanted to hear. A visibly upset White cried in the hallways of the court when she heard the temporary decision and then lashed out.
“We are supposed to be protecting the baby,” she yelled, shortly after smacking a telephone and notepad out of the hand of a reporter who was asking questions.
Anyone with information on these homicides is asked to call Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
