Who is Jean Carlos Aponte? Plantation Man Kills Wife and 2-Year-Old Son

Jean Carlos Aponte has been identified as the man who killed his wife Sara Gama and 2-year-old son in Plantation, Florida.

Aponte subsequently overdosed on drugs in an unsuccessful attempt to take his life.

He was taken to hospital in critical condition while police investigated the murders and his condition as an attempted murder-suicide.

More details below.

Who is Jean Carlos Aponte?

A mother and her child were found dead inside a home in Plantation and the father was found unconscious due to an overdose after an attempted murder-suicide last week.

Officers arrived at Northwest 97th Ave and Northwest 10th Street in Jacaranda Lakes shortly after 12 p.m. Tuesday to find the two victims deceased, Plantation Police said in a statement.

The deceased, a woman and her child, were found dead by “traumatic means.”

The father, considered the suspect in the murders, was found unconscious and was taken to an area hospital for treatment for a suspected self-induced drug overdose.

Initially, police released no information on the tragedy but neighbors close to the family told NBC6 that the father was Jean Carlos Aponte and the mother was Sara Gama.

Broward County property records list the couple as the owners of the home.

Four people lived in the house including the couple and their two kids, a toddler about 2 years old and a newborn baby, neighbors said.

Aponte Arrested and Charged with Murder after Stabbing wife 28 times

Jean Carlos Aponte has been arrested and charged with murder for the killings of his wife, Sara Ashley Gama and his 2-year-old son, Ethan Aponte.

Aponte, who attempted to commit suicide by drug overdose after his actions, survived and was arrested.

He is being held without bond.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by WTVJ-TV, Gama’s father dialed 911 after finding his daughter on the kitchen floor “covered in blood and Aponte unconscious in the master bedroom.” First responders reportedly found the couple’s 2-year-old boy face down in a pool in the backyard.

The couple’s 4-month-old son was found unharmed.

Jean Carlos Aponte had stabbed his wife Sara 28 times, according to the warrant.

She suffered wounds to her face, neck and abdomen.

Her preliminary cause of death, police wrote, was the result of sharp force injury.

Ethan Aponte, however, had suffered stab wounds to his neck and defensive injuries to his hand – with police listing his preliminary cause of death as a combination of sharp force injury and drowning.

Jean Carlos, an Army vet, reportedly suffered from PTSD.

Army veteran Chris Haley told the media Aponte was suffering from “post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury” and had recently reached out to Catch A Lift Fund, a group that provides members of the military mental health support.

Meanwhile, a Broward County Judge has ordered the defendant to undergo a mental health screening ahead of his trial.

Reactions

“It’s beyond shocking,” neighbor Josh Goodish said. “They are just extremely good neighbors, friendly.”

Neighbors said the other child was picked up by family members.

“We were just here yesterday. Devastation. How does this happen? I don’t know, he was so nice. Lovely people. She just had a baby,” neighbor Gilda Howell said.

Following the tragedy, Plantation Police formally identified those involved in a statement.

“Sara Ashley Gama, 38, and her 2-year-old son, Ethan Aponte, were found dead inside the home at 1083 Northwest 97th Avenue,” Plantation Police said in a news release Wednesday.

sara gama and jean carlos aponte plantation

Also found at the home was Gama’s husband and Ethan’s father, 40-year-old Jean Carlos Aponte.

Aponte was taken from the scene to a local hospital in critical condition after an apparent self-induced drug overdose, police said.

Investigators combed through the home as they focused on different areas such as the pool, which was blocked by a tarp.

Aponte remained in the hospital as authorities wait to speak to him.

John Goodish said Jean Carlos Aponte helped him out when he was unable to drive and the families would socialize.

“Round peg going in a square hole does not fit at all. Nice couple. Me and my wife, we had dinner out, we had a nice dinner locally. So I’m just sitting in my chair right now going through my head going through everything what happened,” he said.

Goodish said a few weeks ago, he asked the man to go to lunch.

“I asked him if he wanted to a beer, he said ‘Yeah, I’ll come get you.’ He was fine,” said Goodish.

Another neighbor said the incident is a reminder that some are struggling and in pain behind closed doors.

“Open communication, sympathy, empathy, caring, all that goes a long way,” said a woman.

Investigations into the tragedy continues.

Related – Miami murder-suicide

In Miami, a similar tragedy to that perpetrated by Jean Carlos Aponte hit a family.

Luis Napoles was a 40-year-old Miami resident, hit infamy after essentially murdering his girlfriend and her roommate before killing himself.

Napoles according to reports was dating Meghan Moore, who lived with Sidney Capolino in a a condominium near Bird Road and Southwest 70th Court in Southwest Miami-Dade.

For some reason, he decided to end all their lives on Saturday, March 16th 2024.

Luis Napoles, aged 40, claimed the lives of two women – Meghan Moore, 25, and Sidney Capolino, 23 – and himself.

meghan moore sidney capolino — Meghan Moore and Sidney Capolino

Luis Napoles fatally shot his girlfriend, Meghan Moore, outside their apartment.

He then entered the building and killed Sidney Capolino, who was Moore’s roommate.

Finally, Napoles took his own life.

Capoles’ two victims were Meghan Moore and Sidney Capolino

Moore, 25 years old, was originally from Centerville, Massachusetts.

She was a former student-athlete at New Hampshire’s New England College who played for the women’s ice hockey team at the college.

Her roommate, Sidney Capolino, 23 years old, was the other victim.

Capolino hailed from Pawling, New York and was Moore’s longtime friend and roommate.

Like Moore, Capolino was a former student-athlete at New England College where she also played for the women’s ice hockey team at the same college.

Plantation

Plantation is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States.

It is a part of the South Florida metropolitan area. The city’s name comes from the previous part-owner of the land, the Everglades Plantation Company, and their unsuccessful attempts to establish a rice plantation in the area.

As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 91,750.

Before the start of the 20th century, the area that became Plantation was part of the Everglades wetlands, regularly covered by 2–3 feet of water.

In 1855, Florida state passed the Internal Improvement Act and established the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the trustees of which act as a government agency to oversee the management, sale, and development of state land.

In 1897, the Interior Department submitted 2.9 million acres to the Florida Land Office; however, the submission was revoked the following year, due to fears it would “impinge upon the rights and interests of the Seminole Tribes.”

The Seminole people regularly used the area for hunting, fishing, and camping, and also used the nearby Pine Island Ridge as a headquarters during the second and third Seminole Wars.

Plantation is in central Broward County and is bordered by Lauderhill to the northeast, Sunrise to the north and west, Davie to the south, and Fort Lauderdale to the east.

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