Daughter of slain Deerfield Beach couple talks about her loss

Phillip and Barbara Russo found dead inside their apartment

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Following the arrests of two men for the brutal murder of her parents, Patricia Williams asked to speak with Local 10's Christina Vazquez.

Williams said that although Phillip Russo was her stepdad, she loved and respected him as a father.

She said he was a romantic and a war hero, a WWII Veteran who received a Purple Heart for saving prisoners from concentration camps.

Williams' mother, Barbara, loved an adventure and to travel.

They were deeply in love and still held hands she pointed out.

Williams credits her daughter for being her "Rock of Gibraltar" during this difficult time, for helping her to focus on the one positive thing -- that her parents are in heaven together.

She hopes people remember how they lived, not how they died.

Williams is relieved the men detectives believe are responsible for the killings have been arrested, and is grateful to the community for the support and prayers.

But her focus remains on finding strength through her sorrow to celebrate her parents' lives, their love, and quietly reflect on how much she will miss them.

Her comments to Local 10, she told Vazquez, will be her only public statement.

Williams is asking for privacy.

She needs time to grieve and the space to do it, her daughter said.