DOVER, Fla — An arrest warrant gives new insight into why a man allegedly murdered his romantic partner and her 4-year-old daughter Wednesday afternoon in Dover.
Deputies were called just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to a mobile home on Sumner Road near Berry Pride Lane. They reportedly arrived to find 36-year-old Amalia Choc de Pec dead in the backyard and her daughter, 4-year-old Estrella Pec Coc, dead in the bathtub.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister described it as an "extremely gruesome scene" with bloody clothes and handprints throughout.
“I am taken back by the level of pure evil that has transpired when our suspect brutally murdered an innocent woman and a young child," he said in an earlier news conference.
After searching throughout the night, deputies arrested 31-year-old Angel Cuz-Choc on Thursday morning after K-9s found him hiding in a heavily wooded area near Interstate 4.
Detectives conducted interviews with Cuz-Choc and his two brothers whom he allegedly called while he was on the run. An arrest warrant describes what detectives learned throughout the investigation, including details about the murders and the accused killer's potential motive.
According to the warrant, Cuz-Choc called one of his brothers at 4:03 p.m. — 23 minutes after the murders reportedly happened. That brother told detectives Cuz-Choc's reason for the murders was that Amalia Choc de Pec was "out with a friend for three hours instead of her allotted hour and a half," the document reads.
Detectives say Cuz-Choc called his second brother around 7:10 p.m. and gave him specific details about the crime scene, including that the child was stabbed in the bathtub.
The person who called 911 upon discovering the crime scene was identified as a man who lived in the home with Cuz-Choc and the two victims. He reportedly told detectives that Angel Cuz-Choc and Amalia Choc de Pec "constantly argued" and that Cuz-Choc had physically battered his partner a month prior.
Cuz-Choc is charged with two counts of first-degree murder with additional charges pending.