Broward gunman who killed mother and her three children dies in hospital, BSO says
The man who detectives say shot and killed a mother and her three children before shooting himself in Pembroke Park last week, died in the hospital the next day, Broward Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Stephen McKenzie, 34, killed Julie Cruz, 32, the mother of their two 2-year-old sons, Nova and Emery McKenzie, and her 11-year-old son, Xion Solomon, inside the family’s Pembroke Park apartment around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said.
McKenzie also shot Cruz’s 8-year-old daughter, Phiinyx Solomon, who remained in serious condition Monday at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, according to the sheriff’s office.
READ MORE: ‘There was a massacre.’ Neighbor recounts aftermath of mother, three children’s murders
On Monday, the sheriff’s office said McKenzie was pronounced dead Thursday at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital. It was not immediately known why the sheriff’s office, which took over the case from the Pembroke Park Police Department, announced McKenzie’s death five days after he died.
Stephen McKenzie and Cruz were the parents of Nova and Emery, but Cruz had Xion and Phiinyx with Kelvin Soloman.
When Pembroke Park officers arrived at the apartment, located at 3181 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. in Pembroke Park, Cruz and the three children were already dead. They also found Stephen McKenzie with a gunshot wound, and Phiinyx Solomon, who was “suffering from gunshot wounds,” said BSO spokeswoman Claudinne Caro.
The organizer of a GoFundMe set up to help pay for her medical bills posted Sunday that “Phiinyx’s is getting better with each day that goes by...she’s a fighter.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 2:18 PM.
