A Bermudian accused of fatally shooting his mother has been acquitted by a Florida jury following a trial.
Alexander Deltoro Jr. faced charges of manslaughter after being accused of shooting Cindy Deltoro in the face outside his parents’ residence in Margate, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. He claimed in court that he was trying to defend himself from his father and inadvertently shot his mother during a struggle.
After less than five hours of deliberation, a Broward County jury found Mr. Deltoro not guilty on Tuesday. Following the verdict, NBC Miami reported that Mr. Deltoro was emotional, crying and embracing his lawyer, Ron Baum.
Mr. Baum stated, “He was trying to protect his mother from his father. And it’s just extremely sad that in 5½ years he hasn’t been able to grieve his mother’s death.”
During the trial, it was revealed that on December 14, 2019, Mr. Deltoro had gone out with his parents to celebrate his 28th birthday. An argument broke out between him and his father during the outing. Police accused Mr. Deltoro of elbowing his father, Alexander Deltoro Sr., in the face while driving, though the defense argued that he merely made accidental contact while maneuvering a turn.
Mr. Deltoro testified that the dispute escalated once they returned home. He claimed that when his mother tried to intervene, his father brandished a firearm.
“I feared for my mom and myself,” he said. “I didn’t know what he was going to do. I didn’t know if he was going to attack me or my mom.”
He further stated that his father pushed his mother to the ground, and during the ensuing struggle, he accidentally shot his mother in the face.
“When I went to raise the gun, that’s when he came in with his left arm and he smacked the gun out of my hand, and that’s when it went off,” he explained.
Prosecutors challenged his account, pointing out that he did not mention his father having a firearm during police questioning about the shooting, and no weapon was found at the scene.
Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
User comments posted on this website are solely the views and opinions of the comment writer and are not a representation of or reflection of the opinions of TNN or its staff.
TNN reserves the right to remove, edit or censor any comments.
TNN accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for the comments made by users.