Deputies say Domenico Claude Gigante murdered four people: daughter Kiara Terwilliger, 15, the child’s mother Constance Terwilliger, 35, Glenda Terwilliger, 63, and Michael Watson, 63.
A 36-year-old man faces murder charges after authorities said he fatally shot his 15-year-old daughter, the girl’s mother, and two others.
Domenico Claude Gigante, 36, allegedly admitted to his roommate that he murdered his child.
A man called 911 at 1:55 a.m. on Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit and press conferences from Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey. His girlfriend’s sons had reached him through a video call reporting the shooting. He arrived at the residence, keeping the call open because of concern for the boys’ lives. He arrived at the scene in Cocoa, Florida, to find the four victims dead. The two boys, ages 6 and 9, were unharmed.
The victims were identified as Gigante’s daughter Kiara Terwilliger, 15, the child’s mother Constance Marie Terwilliger, 35, Glenda Mae Terwilliger, 63, and Michael Andrew Watson, 63. Constance used to be in a relationship with Gigante, Ivey said.
Authorities said the suspect had been trying to reconnect with his daughter, but she refused to have a relationship with him.
After being told his daughter died, he allegedly agreed to go with his roommate to the Criminal Investigative Services building. First, however, he wanted to go inside with his roommate to get their keys.
“Shortly after, [the roommate] exited the residence and approached the agent,” deputies wrote. [He] stated he needed to be separate from Mr. Gigante, as he had concerns regarding Mr. Gigante.”
He said he asked Gigante, “did you do this?”
Gigante allegedly said he had, shooting his daughter three times.
The roommate said that Gigante had previously expressed frustration about the situation with his daughter and her family.
“I guess I’m going to go over them [sic] and kill them all,” Gigante allegedly said.
Deputies said that surveillance footage from his home showed him entering his pickup truck with what seemed to be a firearm.
Surveillance footage videos from the victims’ neighborhood showed a vehicle nearby matching the description of Gigante’s vehicle, authorities said. Footage from the victims’ next-door neighbor showed his truck with a distinctive cover. The vehicle appeared to enter the driveway of the victim’s home, authorities said. The audio captured gunshots and a female screaming, authorities said.
“Folks, I’m going to tell you that this is an extremely violent individual with an extremely violent past dating back as far as 2005, who should have never been on our streets where he could take the lives of this entire family,” Ivey said of Gigante.
Court records show a 2005 case for misdemeanor battery domestic violence. Prosecutors dropped the charge in favor of pre-trial diversion.
He was sentenced to two years of house arrest and two years of probation in an animal cruelty case in 2008. He pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and possession of fewer than 20 grams of cannabis in a 2012 case.
Authorities said he argued with two motorcycle riders and “quickly jerked the steering wheel of the vehicle to the right causing his vehicle to change course rapidly to the right and collide with the left side of” the victim’s vehicle.
When the bike riders followed him to his friend’s home and called 911, he got out of his vehicle with a large machete, authorities said. Prosecutors dropped a count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Gigante was sentenced to two years of house arrest and two years of probation.
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