A Collier County Crime Scene Investigator removes bags of evidence on Sunday from a home where authorities say Guerline Damas and her five children were found dead Saturday evening.
In this driver's license photo provided by the Collier County Sheriff's Office, Mesac Damas, 33, is shown. Collier County Sheriff's officials say they want to talk to Damas, who is a person of interest in the slaying of a woman and five young children inside a Naples, Fla. apartment.Damas believe to be the husband of the slain family. Believed to have fleed to Haiti.
Pastor Pierre Merone prays during service at First Haitian Baptist Church in East Naples Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009.
Five young children and their mother have been found dead in a Florida apartment, and authorities are searching for the woman's husband.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office says the husband boarded a flight to Haiti, where he has family. The sheriff's office describes him as a person of interest.
His car was found at Miami International Airport and investigators are checking it for evidence.
Family members contacted authorities Thursday saying they hadn't heard from the mother, and a missing person report was filed the next day. Yesterday, the sheriff's office entered the home in a gated community in Naples and found the bodies.
Police launched a massive manhunt late Saturday for Damas' husband, Mesac, who they say drove to Miami International Airport on Friday morning and boarded a flight to Haiti. Damas reportedly has family from Haiti.
Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk called the homicides “the worst of the worst.”
“In no uncertain terms this is the most horrific and violent event this community has ever experienced,’’ the sheriff said.
Dead are wife Guerline Damas, 32 and children Michzach, 9, Marven, 6, Maven, 5, Megan, 3, and Morgan Damas, 11 months.
Damas is no stranger to the Collier County court system according to court records. He has been involved in four domestic violence cases this decade.Collier County court records show Mesac Damas has prior charges for domestic violence against his wife. Roberts said that in January, Damas pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge against his wife.
Mesac Damas is a cook at Miller’s Ale House on Naples Boulevard in Naples. He also told his landlord that he was a disc jockey.
“We don't have a comment on anything,” general manager Jimmy Chico said.
Investigators said Damas left Miller’s Ale House shortly before 9 p.m. on Thursday.
Neighbors said they often saw the three older children at the bus stop in the morning. The oldest was protective of his two younger siblings, warning them to stay out of the street. They could also be seen playing in their yard and saying hello to neighbors in the community landscaped with palm trees and filled with light colored town homes, many of which have screened patios in the back.
Neighbor Vebi Shuaipi said the family was very nice and friendly.
He said he never saw the couple fighting, although the police were at their house all week because they had been yelling.
'Every homicide is tragic, however this is the worst of the worst.' Collier County sheriff's office chief investigator Jim Williams said 'the couple has a history of violence that has been in the court system.' The sheriff, too, noted that police had gone twice in the past year to the Damas residence to respond to 'domestic violence' complaints, most recently in January.
In an interview on Sunday, Mr Damas's father told the Naples Daily News that his son had fled to Haiti.
Jean Damas Sr said he knew his son had arrived in the Caribbean nation because 'he (Mesac Damas) called his brother from there', the newspaper reported on its website.
The father also confirmed to the paper that those killed in the North Naples home were his daughter-in-law and five grandchildren, and acknowledged that his son and his wife had had domestic problems.
Mr Williams said picking through the crime scene was 'very, very difficult and tedious'. Police said the child victims included three boys, age nine, six and five, a girl age three and a baby girl 11 months old.----------------
5 young children and their mother have been found dead in a Fla. apartment, and authorities are searching for the woman's husband. Officials say the couple had a history of domestic violence calls to their home over the past decade.
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