Dad under house arrest for son’s killing after Disney trip can live with wife, judge says
A father accused of shooting and killing his son during a squabble at the family’s home after returning from a trip to Disney World will remain under house arrest but can once again live with his wife, a judge ruled Wednesday.
David Contreras, 53, was arrested at his Kendall home in early November after calling 911 and telling the dispatcher that he just “lost it.” Police said at the time that Contreras confessed to killing 21-year-old Florida International University student Eric Contreras, who was shot multiple times.
During Wednesday’s hearing before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge David Young, defense attorney Jose Quinon told the judge there was no longer any reason to keep surviving family members separated. His argument was bolstered by psychologist Dr. Neena Malik, who said she had spent 15 hours working with the family since November and didn’t believe David Contreras was a threat to family members or the community.
“He’s not a violent person. He’s someone who is needed, frankly,” Malik told the judge. “And she [Contreras’s wife] needs her husband to heal. There is no indication of fear.”
Young shot down several requests from Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Rachel Morales-Gellis to keep David Contreras alone and under strict house arrest. The prosecutor argued that the psychologist couldn’t possibly determine David Contreras wasn’t violent because she hadn’t viewed any arrest information.
At one point, Morales-Gellis interjected and said that despite David Contreras having no prior arrests, there were instances of prior violence. She also said there was another instance when he discharged a firearm at his son.
“She said the defendant wasn’t violent. But she didn’t view any evidence in the case,” Morales-Gellis told the judge.
After the shooting death of Eric Contreras, David Contreras moved into an apartment and his wife moved out of the family’s West Kendall home. It’s expected she will now join him in his apartment. David Contreras, a real estate developer, hasn’t worked since the shooting.
‘I just lost it’
When police got to the Contreras family’s home on the afternoon of Nov. 3, 2023, they found only Eric Contreras’s bullet-riddled body, and his father. Police said David Contreras called 911 and confessed to the killing both to the dispatcher and to police when they arrived.
The video on the home’s Ring doorbell also captured David Contreras trying to explain to his wife what he had done to their son, police said. He was charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Metro West Detention Center. He later pleaded not guilty.
Police believe the argument between David and Eric Contreras at Disney World continued until they got home that early afternoon in November two years ago. The trial is scheduled for March 11.
