Winter Haven police investigating an apparent murder-suicide
WINTER HAVEN (FOX13) - Winter Haven police are investigating after a man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend at an apartment complex.
It happened around 9:15 Friday night on Vista Del Lago Drive.
Police say 51-year-old Jose Hernandez-Acevedo showed up to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment complex and was seen talking with a child outside her apartment.
When 37-year-old Mayline Cardona arrived home a short time later, witnesses say they heard three to four gunshots and then saw Hernandez-Acevedo standing over her body. Witnesses say Hernandez-Acevedo fired the handgun so many times that he reloaded the weapon and continued to shoot. Officers recovered more than 30 bullet casings at the scene.
Hernandez-Acevedo then fled from the scene. He was found a short time later at the Lake Fannie boat ramp dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Cardona’s two teenaged sons were in the apartment at the time of the shooting, but were unharmed. They are now staying with family members.
Detectives are still investigating what led up to the shooting.