A Florida couple who married just last week were killed in a double homicide over the weekend, officials say.
Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting Saturday morning in West Palm Beach and found a man and woman dead with gunshot wounds at a residence, the sheriff’s office said. At the time, police said they were talking to a “person of interest.”
On Monday, the sheriff’s office said that person — 46-year-old Sony Josaphat, who previously lived at the home — had been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder.
At his first court appearance Sunday, he was ordered to be held without bond and appointed a public defender. NBC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
“The family has invoked Marsy’s Law for both victims,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, meaning their names won’t be made public. “Let’s keep them in thought and prayer during this difficult time.”
The couple had been married just one week before they were discovered dead, a woman who described herself as the bride’s sister told NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach.
A redacted criminal probable cause affidavit reveals the shooting was a targeted domestic violence incident.
Josaphat’s daughter had called 911 Saturday morning and reported that she saw her father shoot the newlyweds, the document states. When deputies arrived, they found the daughter and her brother at the home and the victims lying on the sidewalk outside the front door.
Josaphat had not lived at that residence where the shooting took place in over a year, but he randomly showed up from time to time and had a history of being “controlling,” the document said. The affidavit redacted the details explicitly stating the connection between Josaphat and the victims.
According to the affidavit, the day of the shooting, Josaphat was seen walking through the yard of the home before he approached the victims and opened fire.
In an interview, Josaphat told a deputy he became overtaken with “anger” when he saw a surveillance camera being installed by the front door of the home where the shooting took place, the affidavit said.
“He walked up to [redacted] and said, ‘Good morning.’ They said ‘Good morning’ back to him. Sony then shot [redacted] in the upper torso and head. He then shot [redacted] several times,” the affidavit said.
Even after they were shot, he kept shooting with his Glock 17, the affidavit said. When he left in his car, he noticed his Glock magazine was empty, called his pastor and confessed what he had done, according to the document.
He then drove to Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office headquarters, entered the main detention center courthouse and surrendered, declaring that he had just killed the victims.
According to court documents, Josaphat didn’t have a previous history of domestic violence nor a restraining order with the victims, and drugs nor alcohol were involved in the shooting.
