One year ago, Misley Gonzalez complained to the courts that her longtime husband, Reinaldo Cabrera, had spent years threatening her life while constantly slapping, punching and kicking her.

The judge refused to issue a permanent restraining order. The couple reconciled.

But on Tuesday morning, Cabrera’s rage finally turned deadly, Miami-Dade police say.

Around 10:30 a.m., he arrived at his wife’s workplace, the Casa Latina cafeteria, 19541 NW 57th Ave., in a strip mall next to a day-care center and a dentist’s office, and picked a fight.

Shots rang out as horrified employees scattered. Gonzalez crumpled to the kitchen floor, dead.

Police shooting

Cabrera escaped and Tuesday night was the target of a massive police manhunt. About 9 p.m., Miami-Dade police reported an officer-involved shooting at a Hialeah apartment building about six miles away from Casa Latina.

Neighbors told Miami Herald news partner WFOR CBS4 that Cabrera lived in the apartment building, at 7155 W. 14th Ct.

Police did not confirm Tuesday night if the person shot was Cabrera or whether he was still alive. Early reports Tuesday indicate the shooting was fatal.

In recent years, Cabrera has been accused of domestic violence, but his wife never sought his arrest, records show.

Miami-Dade family court records show that in December 2010, Gonzalez filed for a restraining order against her husband, claiming he was stalking her. “For the past five to six years, [Cabrera] has been physically violent toward [his wife] by punching her, kicking her, slapping her, pushing her, pulling her hair and twisting her arms,” according to the complaint.

But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mark King Leban dismissed an effort to issue a permanent injunction, saying the allegations of violence in the past were “disputed” and “remote.”

A shaky relationship

The two — who have a 16-year-old daughter — had apparently reconciled, but their relationship remained shaky.

The boiling point came Tuesday morning at Casa Latina.

“I’ve known them for many years. He was good people, but very jealous. He would get upset if she would even talk to a man,” said Jose Aldaco, 18, whose family is close the Cabrera-Gonzalez family. “This wasn’t worth it.”

Said Maria Zumeta, another family friend: “This morning, Rey was just at my house. He wanted coffee. He told me he was going to the restaurant to see his wife to get lunch for his daughter.”

Casa Latina has a tight-knit clientele. Customers come by to smoke cigars, play dominos and sip thimbles of Cuban coffee.

Gonzalez had worked there as a cook for five months. Before work that morning, at about 5:30 a.m., Miami-Dade police said, she and Cabrera got into an argument, although over what remained unclear.

Later that morning, the restaurant’s owner, Israel Galindo, said Gonzalez contemplated getting a restraining order. But ultimately, she remained at work.

“She was a tremendous person. This is beyond belief. They have been married for more than 20-something years. Never in this world would I imagine, never. It hurts,” a teary Galindo said.

Cabrera walked into the restaurant around 10:30 a.m. as employees were writing up the day’s special on a white dry erase board.

He allegedly told one of the employees to “ ‘get out of the way; this has nothing to do with you,’ ” before shooting Gonzalez, said customer Manuel Tome, who was playing dominoes inside.

“The waitress grabbed me by the arm and shoved me into the men’s bathroom. Everyone else ran outside,” Tome said.

‘It was very quick’

Cabrera opened fire almost immediately, said Miami-Dade homicide Lt. James Tietz. “It was very quick. Some words were exchanged, but it was very quick,” Tietz said.

Victor Rodriguez was fixing the business’ computer when shots rang out.

“I heard a boom. So I opened the kitchen door,” Rodriguez said. “I saw her body on the floor as he stood before me. He had a silver handgun. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t say anything.”

The domestic killing follows a familiar and tragic plotline in South Florida.

In the first seven months of 2011, authorities recorded 13 domestic violence-related slayings, according to Miami-Dade County’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, which monitors such statistics.

That means the county is likely to surpass last year’s total of 15 domestic homicides, though not reaching a spike of 26 in 2008.