Father killed mother, daughters before taking his own life in a Doral home, investigators say
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office released new details in the murder-suicide of a mother, father, and their two daughters found inside a Doral home on Tuesday night.
MDSO posted an update Thursday afternoon about the incident in the Doral Isles neighborhood, near Northwest 111th Court and 72nd Terrace.
Preliminary information from MDSO’s Homicide Unit revealed that 42-year-old Ryan Charles Whiten stabbed their mother, 46-year-old Melanie Lauren Hyer, their 11-year-old daughter, and their 8-year-old daughter to death before taking his own life. The investigation also revealed that Whiten was the girls’ biological father and was co-parenting with Hyer.
WorldRedEye.com
At approximately 7:44 p.m. Tuesday night, Doral police officers were called to the home to perform a welfare check. According to MDSO, when officers entered the house, they found the four people unresponsive.
Members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived at the scene and pronounced all of them dead on scene.
The Doral community was left stunned after the tragedy, especially those who knew Hyer
Mayor Fraga says she knew Hyer and her daughters.
“She was a light of sunshine and was always eager to help at school and to be involved as a mom, so when I got the news, it definitely hit close to home,” said Fraga.
“Melanie is an extremely outgoing person, extremely friendly, extremely meticulous when it came to her work,” said Willard Shepard.
Shepard says he met Hyer about 20 years ago, when she was his realtor, and says they’ve been friends ever since.
Shepard says he was stunned to hear what happened.
“It’s just heartbreaking across the board that this entire family is physically not with us anymore,” said Shepard.
The two girls were students of Downtown Doral Charter Schools, who released a statement to CBS News Miami about the children’s deaths.
It reads: “Our community is mourning the loss of two of our beloved students. Our heartfelt sympathies are with their families, friends, faculty, and staff at our schools. These students will be deeply missed.”
The school then says they will be helping students and staff with their grief, saying, “To support our students and staff, the school has arranged to have grief counselors on campus and will continue to provide support as needed. We encourage parents to talk openly with their children and closely monitor their well-being. Parents with any concerns or in need of additional support should contact the school.”
CBS News Miami also spoke with Gloria Caldas, who has a granddaughter at the charter school. She told us that she was heartbroken to hear the news.
“I am sad. I am definitely very sad. It is horrible that the lives of a mother and father ended this way,” Caldas said.
Emotional support animals were seen at Downtown Doral Charter School on Wednesday afternoon, where the girls went to school.
Those who knew the family are now questioning why this happened.
“There was no indication that I had that anything like this would be possible whatsoever on the horizon,” said Shepard.
Court records show Hyer and Whiten had been married to other people, but were both divorced at the time of their deaths.
Investigators have not said what they believe was the motive for the murder-suicide.
Marybel Rodriguez,
Anna McAllister,
Steven Yablonski and
Peter D’Oench
contributed to this report.
