Authorities are investigating a triple homicide involving a Florida man who was the subject of an Amber Alert issued for his young daughter last weekend.
Nathan Gingles, 43, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after he was accused of kidnapping his 4-year-old daughter, Seraphine Gingles, Feb. 16.
While the girl was later found safe, her mother, grandfather and a neighbor were killed.
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Authorities responded to reports of a shooting about 6 a.m. Sunday at a Tamarac, Florida, home, where they discovered 64-year-old David Ponzer, Seraphine’s grandfather, with a gunshot wound on the back patio of the home, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Ponzer was pronounced dead at the home.
As part of that investigation, police learned that the 4-year-old had been taken from the home, and a statewide Amber Alert was issued to the public.
Law enforcement believed she was taken by her father in a 2016 silver BMW X3 with a Texas license plate and that she was in danger. Authorities also initially believed that Seraphine’s mother, Mary Gingles, 34, was with them.
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Several hours after issuing the Amber Alert, detectives reported finding Nathan Gingles and his daughter, who was unharmed, shortly before 11 a.m. in North Lauderdale.
Nathan Gingles was initially arrested on a charge of violating an injunction regarding no contact with the child and her mother.
Mary Gingles was later found dead from gunshot wounds inside another Tamarac home on North Plum Bay Parkway. And another man, 36-year-old Andrew Ferrin, was found dead inside the same home, according to police.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team searched a nearby canal and located a gun believed to be the weapon used in the crimes, police said.
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Gingles was being held at the main jail in Fort Lauderdale and is facing three counts of premeditated first-degree murder with a gun, according to inmate records.
He also faces charges of violating an injunction relating to not having contact with the child or the child’s mother and interfering with custody of a minor.
Ferrin was a neighbor, NBC6 reported, adding that Mary was trying to get help when Ferrin answered the door and was shot.
“It’s unimaginable,” Ferrin’s uncle told the outlet. “A woman was in the neighborhood knocking on actual doors, and my nephew who was home happened to open the door for her.”
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Court records show Mary and Nathan Gingles were going through a divorce and that Nathan Gingles had two court-issued domestic violence restraining orders against him, according to the Miami Herald.
Seven Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies were placed on leave after their handling of calls leading up to the Tamarac triple murder case, Sheriff Gregory Tony announced at a press conference Wednesday.
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In one incident, Mary had called deputies in December and said her husband was threatening to kill her. Tony said that a deputy responded and spent over 30 minutes gathering information from Mary and may have had enough evidence to arrest Gingles but did not arrest him.
“We could have done more. … I’m not shying away from holding us accountable,” Tony said at the press conference. “We’re not just looking at isolated incidents. We have a robust list of all the calls for services that occurred at that site location either coming from the husband or coming from the wife.”
Mary’s divorce petition also states that Nathan is “ex-military and has high security clearance,” according to the Miami Herald.
“I don’t want the public to lose faith,” Tony added at Wednesday’s press conference. “When we rectify this situation, I’m going to send the fear of God amongst this entire agency.”
The Broward County Public Defender’s Office, which a judge appointed to the case, did not immediately respond for comment on behalf of Gingles.
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