Memorial grows where Miami Lakes child was shot by father

MIAMI LAKES, Fla. — One by one, people paid their respects at the scene of a family tragedy in the Miami Lakes district.
A small monument marked Christian Tovar, 41, who police said shot and killed his two children, Matthias, 9, and Valeria, 12, before taking his own life.
The family confirmed to Local 10 News that Tovar, who works for City Bikes in Aventura, stole the gun used in the shooting from a colleague.
On Friday, Local 10 confirmed that the siblings attended the Hialeah Institute of Education, and students said the school’s grief counselor had provided services since Tuesday night’s shooting.
“He was a little depressed, maybe a little bipolar. He wasn’t on medication,” the suspect’s mother, Luz Kuznitz, told Local 10 News.
Tovar’s ex-wife later found their lifeless bodies by a lake near Miami Lakes Boulevard — Tovar’s mother said he used to ride his bike there because he liked calm lakes.
“I opened the door and ran after I heard her scream,” said neighbor Magda Peña. “My son ran behind me. He didn’t even have shoes. I ran across the grass and when I got there I saw the lady standing over the little boy. At first because of the darkness, I couldn’t see the father and daughter.”
“My pain, my deepest pain, because not only did I lose my son, my only son, but I also lost my grandchildren,” she said.
Two GoFundMe pages have been created to help the mother of children in her time of need.They can be found by clicking here or by clicking here.
The gun that a father used in his murder-suicide was stolen from where he worked, the family told Local 10 News.
A woman was desperately trying to save her 9-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter after being shot by her father in the Miami Lakes district on Tuesday night, a witness told Local 10 News.
Trent Kelly is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined the Local 10 News team in June 2018.Trent is no stranger to Florida.Born in Tampa, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida School of Journalism and Communication.