PALM BAY, Fla. – A 61-year-old woman and her adult son died of severe burn injuries, hours after Palm Bay police said the woman's estranged husband splashed her with gasoline and set her house on fire.
The man was also injured in the fire.
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Daisy Tapia died from her injuries at 3:30 p.m. and her son, Erik Montes, 32, the suspect's stepson, died around 5 p.m., police said.
Edgard Fuentes, wanted on charges of using gasoline to seriously burn his wife and stepson in an overnight arson, was located at a rest stop in Palm Bay suffering from burns, police said. He now also faces first-degree murder charges, police said.
Palm Bay police were closing off a section of the southbound Interstate 95 exit just south of the city after locating a man identified as Fuentes. Police said he was spotted by another person at the rest stop about 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The burns were from the earlier incident at the home, police reported.
"It's him. We have the suspect and his vehicle," said Lt. Mike Bandish, spokesman for the Palm Bay Police Department. "He's badly burned but conscious."
A trauma alert was issued and a medical helicopter flew in to airlift him to a nearby hospital. Palm Bay police had been searching Fuentes, who authorities said broke into a home overnight, poured gasoline throughout the residence and lit a fire that seriously burned his estranged wife and her adult son.
(Facebook video above courtesy of DW Denise.)
Bandish said the fire was deliberately set after a physical struggle with the woman's son.
The woman had been sleeping in the bed when she was awakened and splashed with the gasoline. The son heard the mother shouting and tried unsuccessfully to stop the stepfather from igniting the fire.
The fire, which gutted the single-story home and collapsed its roof, happened around midnight. Before firefighters arrived, neighbors reported hearing horrific screams. Moments later, the sounds of sirens and fire trucks streamed onto Ixora Avenue where the house was fully engulfed in flames.
Both the mother and son were airlifted to a burn unit in Orlando. Two other people in the woman's single-story home suffered smoke inhalation, police report. Tapia, died about 2 p.m. Thursday, police said.
"We want this guy off the street," Bandish said earlier in the day.
Police said Fuentes was last seen leaving the burning home in a red GMC Envoy Denali. Police have already drawn up an arrest warrant for Fuentes on attempted first-degree murder, attempted felony murder, arson and burglary charges. He was later found at the Palm Bay rest stop on the interstate.
"This was heinous, horrific- to do this to another human being," Bandish added.
Police said Fuentes had been in some sort of domestic dispute prior to breaking into the house. An alert for Fuentes had gone throughout the state.
Crime scene tape draped a nearby palm tree. Portions of the garage door blackened by the fire and soot laid across a neighbor's lawn. Neighbors and children heading to school looked over at the home as police stood on the streets sharing notes.
"This is just a shock," said 33-year-old Rod Wilis, who lives next door. "This is usually a quiet neighborhood."
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