HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Police officers described a recent fatal domestic violence incident in Hallandale Beach as “horrific.” Relatives identified the victim as Delfina “Lily” Perez, a mother of two who was approximately 20 weeks pregnant. He was 41 years old.

Perez dropped off her two children, ages 8 and 9, at a daycare in Hallandale Beach, where she was known to be punctual. Police said officers responded to the day care around 9pm on Tuesday after he did not come to pick them up.

According to Hallandale Beach Police Department spokeswoman Grace Mariot, a relative picked up the children from day care and later reported that cars belonging to Perez and the children’s father, Victor Chavez, were parked outside the home. someone opened the door.

“Family members provided officers with information about their parents’ history of domestic disputes, concerns for the father’s mental health, and prior threats,” Mariot wrote.

When Hallandale Beach police officers rushed to the home near Southwest Seventh Avenue and Seventh Court, they found Chavez, 38, “lethargic and unresponsive” in the bedroom and Perez “seriously injured” in the bathroom, police said.

Police said attempts were made to revive Perez, but fire personnel pronounced him dead and took Chavez, also known as Victor Ricardo Chavez Sanchez, to the hospital. Police said the man confessed to the murder and attempted suicide, and officers arrested him on Saturday.

Broward County records show Broward Sheriff’s Office corrections officers booked him into the main jail in Fort Lauderdale. He appeared in county bond court Sunday — he was facing two counts of second-degree murder — and needed a Spanish-English interpreter.

The judge ordered a mental health screening. Child Protection Investigation Services was investigating the circumstances of the two children. Detectives’ investigation into the murders was active Sunday afternoon.

“The children are safe and are currently in the care of relatives,” Mariot wrote.

Perez’s younger sister, Cosme Abel De Leon Mazariegos, wrote on the GoFundMe in English and Spanish that her parents wanted Perez’s remains in their hometown of Guatemala and that the two grieving children would need support.

“I now have to raise her two beautiful children along with mine,” De Leon wrote. “Their lives will not be easy. “They are the real victims of this tragedy.”

For assistance with domestic violence, call 1-800-799-7233, 305-743-4440 or 954-761-1133 or visit this page.

Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.

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