Police in West Palm Beach, Florida, are investigating the double homicide of a pair of newlyweds who were gunned down outside their home.
An adult man and woman were found dead from gunshot wounds on Saturday morning and police quickly apprehended a “person of interest,” according to a news release from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, police announced that they arrested and charged Sony Josaphat with two counts of first-degree murder. He is not eligible for bond.
Police wrote that the family of the victims invoked “Marsy’s Law,” meaning the names of the victims will not be released.
The two victims had just been married a week before they were killed, according to a woman who identified herself as the victim’s sister in an interview with WPTV.
The pair got married on her sister’s birthday, Dec. 2, the woman said.
“She has never been as happy as she was now,” she added.
An arrest report obtained by WPTV revealed that Josaphat, the man charged with killing the newlyweds, was the former husband of the female victim.
Josaphat fled the scene after shooting the man and woman before turning himself in and confessing to the crime at the Palm Beach County Jail, the arrest report reads. Josaphat and the female victim were officially divorced on Nov. 22, WPTV reports, citing clerk records.
During police interviews with people who lived at the residence of the two victims, detectives learned that Josaphat moved out of the home over a year ago “but randomly shows up from time to time and has a history of being controlling,” the arrest report states.
Police noted that a witness recalled the couple were outside installing surveillance cameras on their home when the suspect approached them in their yard. The suspect greeted the pair and “after a few moments, Sony pulled out a pistol and shot” them, according to the arrest report.
During questioning at the county jail, Josaphat said his ex-wife had “been disrespecting him and blocked his calls.”
Josaphat told police that “anger took over him” when he shot his ex-wife and her new husband, and that his daughter witnessed the crime.
“Sony said he knew what he did was wrong and has never done anything like this,” according to the report.
The adult daughter of Josaphat and the female victim was the person who called 911. Three of the woman’s children were inside the home when the newlyweds were killed, according to the female victim’s sister.
The woman who was killed had moved to the U.S. from Haiti 25 years ago, her sister said. She was a nurse practitioner and her new husband was a pastor.
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