Double murder suspect arrested after woman, child found stabbed to death in Dover

DOVER, Fla. - A man accused of killing his romantic partner and her young child has been arrested.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister announced deputies arrested Angel Cuz-Choc shortly before noon on Thursday. 

According to Chronister, Cuz-Choc stabbed a woman he was romantically involved with, 36-year-old Amalia Coc Choc de Pec, and also stabbed her 4-year-old daughter, Estrella Anastasia Pec Coc, on Wednesday at a mobile home in Dover.

Investigators say a neighbor heard screaming around 3:40 p.m. but did not call 911 because it wasn't unusual for that area. 

Chronister said they had never responded to the home for domestic violence situations.

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

The bodies were discovered by their roommate around 5:30 p.m.

According to deputies, the girl's body was found inside the mobile home and her mother was discovered outside. Investigators say she tried to run for help before she died. 

"A bloody hand print that we believe is hers, as she was fighting for her life, trying to escape the violence that was occurring inside this mobile home," Chronister said during a press conference Wednesday night. "This gruesome scene got even worse when the deputies made entry into the residence and found a small child brutally murdered." 

Investigators say Cuz-Choc ran away after the killings, cut through strawberry fields and into the woods.

For 18 hours, deputies searched for Cuz-Choc on the ground with K9’s and in the air with its aviation unit before catching up with him on Thursday morning between I-4 and Glen Harwell Road. 

Chronister said when Cuz-Choc realized he was spotted by a deputy, he ran into heavy vegetation. Bodycam video shows the moment a K9 located him, and deputies were able to pull him out from the vegetation.

The sheriff said the victims and Cuz-Choc had recently moved to the area from Guatemala.