MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A Miami Gardens man accused of killing his wife and 10-year-old daughter with a machete appeared in court Wednesday, where he was ordered to be held without bond and to have no contact with his surviving daughter.
Noel Chambers, 57, was arrested Tuesday night after he was found hiding near a fire station in the 500 block of Northwest 199th Street, Miami Gardens police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt said.
"The firefighters recognized him from the extensive media coverage and law enforcement presence," Noel-Pratt said.
Chambers faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The grisly attacks took place Saturday night at an apartment complex on Northwest 177th Street near Northwest Seventh Avenue.
Police said Chambers killed his wife, Lorrice Harris, and daughter, Shayla Chambers, after Harris told him she was leaving him. The couple's 29-year-old daughter, Shanalee Chambers, was also attacked by Chambers, but she is expected to survive, police said.
Harris' other adult daughter, Ashley Anderson, said her sister is doing very well and is healing from her injuries.
According to an arrest report, a witness who lives in the same building heard someone say, "Mommy, he's going to kill me," during the attack.
The witness and her husband rushed out of their apartment and went downstairs, where they saw the front door of the Chambers' family apartment open and Shanalee Chambers inside the doorway. The witness told police that Noel Chambers was standing next to his daughter holding a machete in an upward position as the victim begged, "Master, no. No, master. Don't."
Police said the witness then called 911 and went back upstairs, where she saw Noel Chambers leaving the scene in a four-door Hyundai.
Authorities said the neighbor then went back downstairs and stayed with Shanalee Chambers until police and fire rescue crews arrived.
The woman told detectives that Shanalee Chambers told her her father was angry and jealous because her mother was going to leave him.
According to the arrest warrant, Noel Chambers was involved in a hit-and-run crash shortly after he left the apartment.
The car was found abandoned at the scene in the area of Northwest Seventh Court and 188th Street.
Chambers was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correction Center.
Anderson said the family was relieved that Chambers had been apprehended.
"He [doesn't] belong on the street," Anderson said. "He [doesn't deserve] to live. We're just so happy that he got caught."
A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay for Harris and Shayla's funeral costs.