FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Alexander Deltoro, Jr., celebrated his 28th birthday dinner with his family on Dec. 14, 2019. A domestic violence tragedy followed.
Detectives blamed Deltoro for his 60-year-old mother’s death during a fight with his father at their home in Margate.
More than five years later, his manslaughter trial started in Broward County Circuit Judge Lorena V. Mastrarrigo’s courtroom.
Deltoro was “a bit frantic” after the shooting, Sgt. Richard Bravo-Brown said during his testimony in court.
On Wednesday, jurors watched a video showing Deltoro’s interrogation at the Margate Police Department before his arrest on Dec. 15, 2019.
After the detective asked if he had pulled out the gun to scare his father during the fight, Deltoro said, “Why would I do that?”
Prosecutors said the conflict started when Deltoro allegedly elbowed his father in the face to stop him from singing while he was driving them home after dinner and it escalated at home after he threw a water bottle.
According to Lt. Sean Cobban’s arrest report, the argument in the car had escalated to a fight at home when Deltoro’s glasses fell off and he grabbed a 9mm Glock.
Deltoro said he “pulled out the firearm but did not mean to discharge it,” Cobban wrote, according to the report.
His mother, Cindy Deltoro, was shot in the head, while physically trying to stop him and his father from fighting, according to Margate detectives.
Prosecutors filed a case against him on Dec. 16, 2019, for manslaughter, a first-degree felony; carrying a concealed firearm, a third-degree felony; and battery, a first-degree misdemeanor.
County court records show his arraignment was on Jan. 16, 2020, and Broward County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputies released him a day later on a $40,000 bond.
The World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020, and the public health emergency delayed court cases, including Deltoro’s case, in Broward County.
Last year, Deltoro’s defense claimed it was a self-defense shooting because he saw his father reaching for a gun, but the judge sided with the prosecution and denied the Stand Your Ground motion to dismiss the case.