COCOA, Fla. – Two women were found dead in a home in the Cedar Lakes community in West Cocoa, Brevard County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tod Goodyear said.
Crime scene investigators arrived at the home at 4061 Eucalyptus Place at 12:33 p.m. Tuesday. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office identified the victims as 84-year-old Maxine Mills and 61-year-old Holly Crossman. Both women lived at the home.
Crossman's nephew, Marty Connell, 41, was arrested after investigators obtained a warrant charging him with two counts of first-degree murder, officials said late Tuesday.
Connell was taken to the Brevard County Jail where he is being held without the option to post bail.
Deputies said Connell called 911 and said he had hurt two people.
In an interview with detectives Connell said he used a hammer to attack his aunt and grandmother, according to court records.
"I don't know why I did it," Connell told detectives. "I don't know what to do, I am hearing things."
Investigators said Connell was homeless and had been camping in the area of State Road 528 and Industry Drive in Cocoa.
Connell said he goes to his grandmother's home once a week to "get cleaned up."
"How? That's your grandmother. That's your blood. How?" asked Cecelila Quillen, who said she lived next door to Mills and Crossman.
Quillen told News 6 she saw Connell arrive at her neighbors' home at approximately 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
She said after she left for work, her husband heard noises from next door.
"He was in the house," Quillen said. "He heard a loud, loud bang. He thought a tree fell on a house and he came outside to see what was going on and he heard the commotion going on. He heard a few more loud bangs and then that was it."
Investigators said Connell had previously lived at the home, and he has a history of domestic violence with his aunt.
News 6 found out Crossman had an injunction filed against him in 2011, blocking him from coming near her, but Quillen said she still saw Connell come by regularly.
Investigators confirmed the injunction for protection was issued against Connell in 2011, and said it was still valid as of Tuesday’s date.
"He would come over two or three days a week and do his laundry, eat (or) take a shower," she said. "I mean, he always looks well-maintained -- haircut. If you did not know the family, you would never know he was homeless."
Quillen said the relationship between Connell and Crossman was strained at best.
"When he would come over, she would come out and sit on the porch, and you could see it … just steam," she said.
The investigation is ongoing as homicide and crime scene investigators continue to look into the case. Authorities are currently in the process of serving two search warrants.
If you have any information about the crime that could help Brevard County deputies, call the homicide unit at 321-633-8413 or Crime Line at 800-423-8477.