SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Standing in a yellow jumpsuit and in handcuffs, Justin Pruitt, 28, didn't say much while he was in front of a judge facing a second-degree murder charge at his first appearance on Wednesday.
The first appearance lasted only about 30 seconds as the judge ruled Pruitt will stay in jail on bond until he can be transferred to Orange County, where police say the crime took place.
According to Orlando police, Pruitt shot his live-in girlfriend Tiffany Linquanti, 26, in the head July 21.
Tiffany Linquanti died July 29, after doctors said she was unable to wake up from a coma.
Her mother, Lilia Linquanti, told News 6 she had no idea her daughter's romantic relationship became violent. She said Tiffany Linquanti had known Pruitt since elementary school and had been dating him for the past five years.
"According to her, they argued a lot, but he was never physical ... but that's what she would tell me," Lilia Linquanti said Tuesday. "But her friends knew different but I never saw red flags."
As detectives dug deeper into the investigation, they learned through a friend of Tiffany Linquanti that Pruitt had threatened her with his gun before and they had a volatile relationship due to his drinking.
The friend showed investigators text messages from the victim after a Dec. 21 incident with Pruitt, during which he broke the bedroom door down and pointed a gun at her chest.
"Justin pulled his gun on me and cocked it," Tiffany Linquanti wrote, adding he pointed the gun at her chest and said he would kill her.
After that incident, the victim's friend tried to persuade her to leave Pruitt.
"Please, I really, really mean it this time," the friend wrote. "You need to move out."
The day after the December incident, Tiffany Linquanti told her friend that Pruitt had no memory of pulling a gun on her because he had been drinking.
"They confiscated the weapons but I don't know how they got them back," Lilia Linquanti said.
News 6 obtained the police report from that December incident they say would explain what happened. It shows when police responded to the home that December night, Tiffany Linquanti told a different story than what she told her friend in those text messages. She told police Pruitt was drunk and thought he may harm himself.
"Tiffany never saw Justin with any of the guns.Tiffany stated she had no concern for her safety if she were to stay with Justin for the evening," the report read. "He was informed he could pick up the firearms in the morning when the effects of the alcohol and medication have worn off."
Michelle Sperzel, CEO of the Harbor House of Central Florida, explains why in cases like this, victims cover up for their loved ones out of fear.
"It could be fear of retribution, it could be fear of the relationship ending, it could be fear for her own life and she knows being able to get law enforcement to leave will be the only way to make sure she is safe," Sperzel said.
She said it is more common than some would think.
"Domestic violence is complex and you don't know what's going on in that person's mind when law enforcement shows up," she said. "There is a lot of fear associated with it, 'If he ends up going to jail, when he comes out what is going to happen to me?'"
Orlando police say this case is one of 3,000 domestic violence incidents they respond to each year, averaging out to eight a day.
"But we know that only a fraction of incidents are ever reported to police. It takes tremendous courage to reach out for help, and at the Orlando Police Department, we always start by believing victims of domestic violence," an Orlando police spokesperson said Wednesday.
OPD has partnered up with Harbor House to help those victims. Sperzel said if any of this sounds familiar, there is help available.
"If someone is feeling like they are in this situation or it feels familiar or something is eerie to you or if you say, 'I have to call my friend because I'm scared for her,' absolutely do it and let them know there is help out there," Sperzel added.
Victims of domestic violence can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline, available 24 hours a day, at 800-799-7233, or in Central Florida, the Harbor House 24-hour confidential crisis hotline at 407-886-2856.