A 19-year-old man fatally shot his girlfriend’s father in the back, and she helped him cover it up, police have said.
Evelio Gainza’s body was found hidden under towels and bedding on Thursday, after a relative called police to do a welfare check.
Officers found the 63-year-old man had been shot multiple times in the back.
Police say Evelio’s daughter, Eveline Gainza, 17, had called her father to pick her up from her mother’s home on Monday – the last time he was seen, the Miami Herald reported.
While she was at the home, Gainza allegedly took the keys to her father’s Mercedes and drove back to her mom’s home, where she picked up her boyfriend, Demar Turruellas, 18.
Evelio Gainza (pictured) was shot multiple times in the back with a semiautomatic handgun by his daughter’s boyfriend, police say
When they returned to Evelio’s home, police say Turrellas marched upstairs and fired a .40 semiautomatic handgun multiple times into the man’s back.
After the murder, the arrest report says the couple dragged Evelio into the master bathroom, which was being renovated, and covered him up with towels and blankets.
Then, police say they carefully picked up the bullet casings, placing them into a garbage bag, and scrubbed the blood away with bleach and paper towels, Local 10 reported.
When asked about her father’s whereabouts, Gainza is accused of telling someone he had flown to Cuba.
Investigators have said Evelio did not approve of his daughter’s relationship, but have not explained why.
Comments from friends on the murdered father’s Facebook page claim Turrellas had stolen Evelio’s car and other things from him.
Demar Turruellas (left), 18, is accused of killing Evelio, while Eveline Gainza (right), 17, is facing charges for helping her boyfriend clean up the mess
Evelio did not like his daughter’s boyfriend, police say, and friends of the 63-year-old claim he would steal from the Gainza family, and from Evelio’s friends
Friend Luis Gacita said in January he worked with Evelio to have Turrellas arrested for stealing, but police let him go.
‘He had robbed Evelio’s mother’s home, and he was walking around with Evelio’s keys to his Mercedes,’ Gacita alleged.
‘That piece of s*** stole my truck and the police still let him go.
‘Evelio was a great person.
‘The daughter is no good, she supported the boyfriend in everything and on numerous occasions the boyfriend would enter Evelio’s home to steal.’
While friends claim Gainza was bad news, the father’s Facebook profile suggests the pair had a close relationship.
Friends of Evelio said Gainza would go along with whatever her boyfriend said, but social media postings suggest at one point the father-daughter-duo were quite close. Evelio shared pictures of them on holiday in New York, and he would comment compliments on all his daughter’s pictures
Pictures shared to Evelio’s page show the pair holidaying in New York, and he had posted pictures of her in what appear to be scrubs, suggesting she had started a new job.
Similarly, Gainza shared pictures she had taken with her father, and Evelio commented on all of her posts to tell her she was beautiful.
Turrellas has been charged with second degree murder and is being held without bond.
Gainza faces charges of tampering with physical evidence and accessory after the fact.
Police say both admitted to their roles in the devastating murder when they were arrested.