PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A judge denied bond for a 33-year-old father who is accused in the brutal murder of his 2-year old daughter inside their Pembroke Pines home.
Jerónimo Duran appeared before a judge on Thursday and was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in his daughter’s killing.
State prosecutors asked the judge to deny Duran bond for count one for first-degree murder.
“Your Honor, on count one, I see he be held with no bond — this is a capital felony,” said a prosecutor.
The judge granted the request.
“Mr. Duran, you will be held no bond on count one, and count two, bond will be $500,000,” said the judge.
The incident happened on Tuesday after Pembroke Pines Police and Fire Rescue units responded to a home on the 400 block of Southwest 177th Avenue on, where they found the toddler bleeding from her neck.
New details released on Wednesday revealed what happened the day Duran, 33, allegedly killed his daughter.
According to court records, Duran smoked marijuana before picking up his daughter, identified as Melody Alana Rose Duran, from the home of her mother, Mona Clarke, on Tuesday morning and brought her to the great-grandmother’s house, where Duran resided.
After a few hours, there was a gruesome discovery.
The 2-year-old’s great-grandmother came home and walked in to see Duran on top of the 2-year-old.
“When she arrived at the residence, she saw the suspect on top of the 2-year-old child and noticed that the child did not appear to be breathing, at which time she called for 911,” said Pembroke Pines Police Sgt. Jason Palant.
“An ambulance is what I need, fast,” the grandmother told a dispatcher in Spanish.
According to the police report, Melody was strangled, had cuts to her neck, throat and found a steak knife nearby on the floor.
Melody was taken to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
Authorities at the scene said Duran was sitting on the kitchen floor and was cooperative but didn’t communicate with them.
Clarke is now being comforted by family who arrived at her Miami Gardens home.
Her sister spoke to 7News on Wednesday.
“She’s not doing too good right now. Just trying to be a big support for her,” said Clarke’s sister.
Clarke and Duran were together for 12 years, but according to court documents, she was afraid of him.
Although the parents had a court-approved parenting plan, Clarke warned the court that Duran was mentally ill, not taking his medicine and taking illegal drugs.
The filing stated Clarke was afraid of Duran’s “paranoia and anger issues … anxiety and has been Baker Acted a minimum of five times,” and referred to his behavior as “erratic … violent and dangerous to the mother and child.”
Clarke asked the court for a psychological evaluation after, she said, Duran was hearing voices to end his life, some while he was alone with the child.
She also asked for him to do a drug test and for supervised visits.
Ultimately, in March, the parents agreed to split custody, where Duran had unsupervised time with Melody.
Those court documents came from a paternity case, where Duran wanted to make sure that he was Melody’s father.
Duran remains at the Broward County Jail.
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