domesticviolence

On Thursday, Orange County Police found the body of 29-year-old Joanna Gomez-Simo, who is a Bahamian living in Orlando, Florida.

The police were called to the home for a welfare check when family members reported that they were unable to reach her. Her boyfriend Pierre Floriant, 41, allowed authorities inside the Pointe Vista Apartments where they found the pregnant woman strangled to death in her bedroom where she lived with her four children.

Police have since arrested Floriant and charged him with murder.

What happened the day Joanna Gomez-Simo was found dead

It is not known when she was strangled to death but her phone went unanswered for days. She was found with a blanket covering her body as Floriant stayed in the home.

After the murder, he dropped off their 6-month-old child for someone to keep for the night then returned to the apartment. And when the police arrived to investigate the home after a welfare complaint was made, he opened the door to permit them inside where they found the woman, who was 20 weeks pregnant, already dead.

Floriant said he believed Gomez-Simo was cheating on him and he did not want the baby.

Pierre Floriant abused Joanna Gomez-Simo before her death

Floriant has a history of domestic abuse stemming from December of last year when he punched Gomez-Simo in the stomach and neck to abort the baby. Because she refused he said, “he would perform the abortion himself,” she reported to the police before her death.

She had reached out to the police for help in times past when she wished to pursue criminal charges against Floriant. She was recently named as a victim in a Domestic Violence Aggravated Battery case involving Floriant as the defendant.

But Gomez-Simo moved out of state and was no longer in fear for her life so she dropped the charges against him.

The prosecution office said despite her desire to drop the case, it continued to investigate the matter but stated there was insufficient evidence to move forward with criminal charges and prove the case “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Gomez-Simo admitted to police that there were two other cases that were unreported where Floriant abused her.

What are the charges?

Floriant confessed to the killing and is charged with 1st-degree murder and the killing of an unborn child.

A young woman in her 30’s is in hospital, fighting for her life after a man physically attacked her in the street while she held a baby in her arm, then ran over her with his vehicle

Peatra Curry is in urgent need of blood at Princess Margaret Hospital after the horror attack on Monday afternoon through Key West Street.

A video circulating social media, shows the man, believed to be her boyfriend, hitting the woman to the head as she lays on the ground with her baby in hand.  Residents run to her aid to fend off the man. He then drives off in a silver Note, then returns in the vehicle, running over the victim, before residents were able to retrieve the baby.

She is dragged beneath the vehicle before it crashes into a nearby truck and overturns.

The man is captured by residents and arrested by police.

Social media posters have identified the man as Ray Sands, who has a history of abuse.

Last year, Sands pleaded guilty to stabbing the mother of his child in the neck and back with a pair of scissors. She told police, she was holding their three-week-old baby when Sands slapped and choked her, then locked her in a room.

He was bound over to the peace, ordered to pay $800 in compensation for her injuries.

Anyone who can assist is asked to donate blood at the ICU ward.

The officers shot in Abaco today are said to be “in good spirits.” The two officers were shot when they responded to a domestic dispute.

What happened?

• Officers identified as Chief Superintendent Smith and Officer Lyndon responded to the domestic dispute in Pelican Shores.
• Upon arrival, they were accosted by a man believed to be involved in the dispute.
• The man then shot the two officers in the face and stomach.
• The officers drove to the clinic and were treated for their “non-life-threatening” injuries.
• The suspect was also shot and transported to the clinic where he is being treated.