A Miami father has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after admitting on a Ring doorbell camera to shooting dead his own son following an argument.
David De Jesus Contreras, 53, pleaded guilty on Monday to killing his son, Eric Contreras, a 23-year-old construction management student at Florida International University, following a family trip to Walt Disney World in November 2023, the Miami Herald reports.
His charge was then reduced from second-degree murder to manslaughter, for which Judge David Young sentenced the father of two to 12 years in prison followed by a 10-year probation.
Prosecutors have said the father and son had been arguing about the college student’s social plans all the way home from their Disney World trip on November 3, 2023, when the elder Contreras opened fire.
He then called 911 and confessed to the killing, both to the dispatchers – whom he told he ‘lost it’ when he shot Eric several times – and to police when they arrived at their Kendall home.
Damning footage from the family’s Ring doorbell camera also showed the father trying to explain to his wife what he had done to their son.
‘Is he alive? Is he breathing?’ the frantic wife asked.
‘He’s not breathing. He’s dead. The fighting on the way home was unbearable, we got here and it was one second to the next,’ Contreras said through tears.
David De Jesus Contreras, 53, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday for killing his son, Eric Contreras, 23
Prosecutors have said the father and son had been arguing about the college student’s social plans all the way home from their Disney World trip on November 3, 2023, when the elder Contreras opened fire
Minutes later, police arrive at the property and officers’ bodycam footage captured a second confession.
‘I just shot my son,’ Contreras wails as armed police made their way over to him in the driveway.
Officers then found Eric’s body riddled with gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The father later claimed he had acted in self-defense, after suffering years of abuse at the hands of his own son.
He painted a picture of his son as a violent man who had struggled with mental health issues.
Family members supported David as he faced charges for his son’s death, and last year a judge even allowed him to remain with his wife and family while he awaited trial, NBC Miami reports.
But prosecutors argued the evidence suggested Eric was kneeling or crouching down at the time of his death, according to Law & Crime.
Eric’s friends also disputed David’s characterization of the college student, as they lamented that they were not allowed to attend Eric’s funeral and burial.
‘An entire community was denied the opportunity to mourn, grieve and honor his life,’ said one friend who had known Eric since they were in first grade together.
‘It wasn’t until everyone realized that Eric’s own family was defending his murderer that we were able to start grieving properly.’
David was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was downgraded to manslaughter under a plea deal
David De Jesus Contreras was caught on Ring doorbell camera trying to explain to his wife what had happened before his arrest
The friend described how he first bonded with Eric when he was in a wheelchair suffering from an injury and he kept Eric company during recess and they bonded over a shared love of the arts.
‘Eric sketched, he painted, he picked up instruments, he played sports,’ the friend recounted.
Eric’s girlfriend also told the judge that he was the most considerate person she had ever known, recounting how he purchased $300 worth of the textbooks she needed for her MBA degree when she couldn’t afford it and learned Spanish to communicate with her family.
He even joined her at the cemetery to visit the grave of her father, who died when she was just eight years old, the girlfriend testified, according to the Miami Herald.
‘His love was the kind of love that made me a better version of myself,’ she said. ‘I found a love that people search their whole entire lives for.’
Another friend also read a statement on behalf of Eric’s supporters, calling him a ‘great friend’ who was ‘kind, passionate and never failed to put a smile on our faces.
‘It’s disgusting to see his name slandered by his own blood,’ the friend said of David’s assertions that his son was violent.
‘We were worried about getting justice for Eric, as his family shut us out,’ the friend continued, adding: ‘We’re here because he deserved better, in life and in death.’
One friend even described Eric as a ‘young man who would have cared for his parents as they aged, who would have given them grandchildren, who wore his father’s spirit and his father’s name,’ Local 10 News reports.
‘David took from the world the very person that loved him the most.’
David told the judge on Monday he has accepted his fate, but that response did not seem to satisfy the judge
Eric’s friends described him as a kind and considerate person, as they lamented that they were not able to attend his burial and funeral mass
David declined to address his son’s friends – leading Judge Young to say the family deprived his friends of the opportunity to properly mourn Eric.
When he then handed down his sentence, the judge said the 12-year term behind bars is ‘for the pain you caused each and every one of them. And continue to cause them because of your selfishness and your family’s selfishness and not letting them grieve, not letting them attend a memorial service, a mass, which [is] so deeply important to those of their faith.’
David then replied, ‘I am the one that has to live with it and I have accepted it,’ as he buried his face in his hands.
But that response did not seem to satisfy the judge.
‘You have to live with it, sir? Your wife has to live with it, sir. Your future grandchildren have to live with it sir,’ Young replied. ‘A lot of people. It’s horrible.’
Following the sentencing, David’s attorney, Frank Quintero told reporters: ‘Of course he’s sorry.
‘No father intentionally wants to kill his kid.’
