What to Know
- A father fatally shot his 3-year-old son before turning the gun on himself in his luxury Coconut Grove apartment, police said
- Miami Police said they found the bodies of 53-year-old Jose Manuel Gonzalez Testino and his son, Jose Manuel Gonzalez, Wednesday night
- Records showed Gonzalez Testino was arrested in 2018 in connection with a Venezuela bribery scheme
A father and his 3-year-old son were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in their luxury Coconut Grove apartment, police said.
Miami Police said officers arrived at the complex located at 2669 South Bayshore Drive just before 8 p.m. Wednesday after a family member requested they do a wellness check on the 53-year-old man and his son.
When officers arrived no one answered the door at the penthouse apartment on the 19th floor, police said.
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The family member opened the door so police could enter, officials said.
Once inside, officers found the bodies of both victims inside the apartment. Police said they had both been fatally shot.
"Tragic scene to see a 3-year-old who just tragically lost their life, it's heartbreaking," Miami Police Officer Michael Vega said.
Police later identified the man as Jose Manuel Gonzalez Testino, and the child as Jose Manuel Gonzalez.
Officials said Gonzalez Testino and child's mother had been divorced since last October, and said he had visitation and had been with the child since Monday.
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“It’s extraordinarily sad, it’s horrible, that children get caught up in adult lives and mess and complication and again there’s obviously some mental instability that goes undetected by people around, we need to take better care of each other I think," resident Etienne Logan said.
Records showed Gonzalez Testino was arrested in 2018 in connection with a Venezuela bribery scheme.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the case involved bribes paid to officials with Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company - and its Houston, Texas-based subsidiary Citgo Petroleum Corporation, to corruptly secure and retain energy and logistics contracts.
Gonzalez Testino, a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, one count of violating the FCPA and one count of failing to report foreign bank accounts.
Gonzalez Testino was due to be sentenced on March 24 in federal court in Houston, and had recently agreed to forfeit $14 million to the government.
"Assuming the police are correct in ruling this a murder-suicide, I am confident that the case had no involvement whatever in what happened last night," attorney Ed Shohat, an attorney for Gonzalez Testino, said Thursday.
Records showed the apartment where the shooting happened is owned by Gonzalez Testino's brother and had been foreclosed on and was listed for sale for $9 million.
The incident remains under investigation.
"We're investigating to see at what time this occurred, if any of the neighbors heard any shots, at what time did they hear them, or if security had any information on approximately what time this occurred," Vega said. "We just have to determine what led to him taking the life of this child and taking his life after."
