A Florida elementary school student was on Zoom for her first day of school when her mother was shot and killed during online class, police said.
The shooting happened Tuesday in a house in Indiantown, about 30 miles southwest of Port St. Lucie, just after 8 a.m. The suspect, Donald J. Williams, was arrested the same day and charged with first-degree murder as other crimes, said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
Six children were in the house at the time of the shooting, including a 10-year-old girl who took an online class for Warfield Elementary. Many schools around the country have opted for online lessons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Snyder said at a news conference on Tuesday that the girl’s teacher saw the child responding to the shooting.
“The teacher’s online – I’ve never done a Zoom with kids, so I paint that other kids are on – and the teacher can see the kids. The teacher said she heard a riot, heard wickedness,” he said. “Realized there was some kind of domestic change. Still, the child could see online. The teacher said she muted her button so no one heard it and then she saw the 10-year-old put her hands around her ears. “
“Almost immediately after the child put his hands around his ears, the computer screen went blank. We know the computer was hit with a projectile,” Snyder added.
A spokesman for Martin County School District said, “Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and children who witnessed this heartbreaking and senseless tragedy.”
Grief advisors will be available to students and staff who need them.
“The incident is still being actively investigated by legislation, and we will continue to respect the privacy of the teacher and our students,” the district said.
The sheriff said investigators believe there was an argument between Williams and the girl’s mother, Maribel Rosado-Morales. The couple had dated earlier.
“He went in and confronted her with something to do with a video,” the sheriff said. “And later we learned that there was a conversation about Facebook. He said she actually started laughing at him and he got scared and shot her.”
Rosado-Morales, 32, was shot several times and died in a hospital, the sheriff said. None of the children – including four children of Rosado-Morales and two nieces – were injured. They range in age from 10 to 17 and none of the children were related to Williams.
The sheriff said he thinks most of the children witnessed the shooting.
After the incident, Williams fled the house but was later arrested after a bus driver was suspected and called 911. The sheriff said Williams tried to go to a location where the bus did not travel.
Snyder said a gun was found in a bag in the bus and Williams, 27, “made a full confession.” It is not clear if he got a lawyer.
The sheriff said officers were at the home last year for previous incidents of domestic violence, but based on their records, it does not appear to be an “ongoing problem.”
