A 14-year-old girl was the victim in a murder-suicide at a drug-fueled house party, and the suspect is a teenage girl she met only a month ago, according to Florida investigators.
The shooting occurred around 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, at a home near St. Petersburg, where the suspect was keeping his dog, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. St. Petersburg is about a 20-mile drive southwest of Tampa.
“Once they arrived on scene, officers found Sayuri Jade Ruiz, 14, deceased, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Officers also located Hector Pfeiffer, 17, with a gunshot wound to the head,” officials said.
“Pfeiffer was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m.”
An investigation revealed that the home’s owner, 26, was out of town and had arranged for Pfeiffer to stay at the home as a dog sitter, authorities said.
The party started around 4 a.m. Saturday, when Pfeiffer invited Ruiz and another woman “to hang out,” officials said. Pfeiffer met the two “on a social media app about (a) month ago.”
The three men were joined by an 18-year-old man from St. Pete Beach “and they consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine throughout the day,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Pfeiffer began brandishing a firearm belonging to (the owner). Detectives learned they all began playing with the gun and taking pictures with it,” the sheriff’s office said.
“A verbal altercation ensued…and (Pfeiffer) became upset. Detectives say Ruiz was talking to the other woman about the argument when Pfeiffer approached Ruiz, pointed the gun at her head and shot her. Detectives say Pfeiffer then shot himself in the head.
An autopsy was expected to determine “the manner of death,” authorities said.
Pfeiffer lived in Seminole, about a 7-mile drive from the crime scene, and Ruiz was from New Port Richey in Pasco County, about a 30-mile drive north, officials said.
Murder-suicide
Up to 600 murder-suicides happen every year, according to the FBI. They represent around 1,000 deaths per year.
“Although rare, such incidents vary widely in terms of who is involved, how they are related, and where the crimes take place,” the FBI reported. “Usually, law enforcement deals with murder-suicides involving two people in a domestic setting or relationship. »
About 65% of murder-suicides involve intimate partners, authorities said, and 81% occur at home.
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