10-Year-Old Student Witnesses Mother Shot and Killed While Remote Learning

After logging in for her first day of class while remote learning, a young Florida elementary school student watched her mother get shot and killed by an ex-boyfriend, according to local authorities. 

“One of the children, the 10-year-old, is online, getting ready to start the day—it’s early, you know, 8 o’clock,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said during a press conference Tuesday.

As BuzzFeed News reports, the 10-year-old’s teacher overheard yelling and cussing on the Zoom call as other students logged in for class. She muted the audio right before her student covered her ears.  

“The teacher said she heard and saw a commotion, heard profanity, and realized there was some sort of domestic altercation,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told reporters. “The teacher said she mutes her button [so] nobody has to hear it, and then she sees the 10-year-old put her hands up to her ears.”

Immediately after, shots were fired inside the home. One bullet hit the girl’s laptop and caused her screen to go blank, according to Snyder. The shots fatally wounded the student’s mother, 32-year-old Maribel Rosado Morales.

Following the shooting, officers arrested 27-year-old Donald J. Williams for allegedly murdering Morales, his ex-girlfriend. Snyder told reporters the two had been separated for over a year and had a history of domestic violence. Morales was a mother of four.