PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A mother and daughter who previously lived in Portland were shot and killed in their Orlando home Monday afternoon.
The Orlando Sentinel reports Maria Sanchez, 36, and her 16-year-old daughter Destiny Banuelos were killed in the Pine Hills area of Orlando. Sanchez, a mother of 5, moved there a few years ago. Her daughter just moved there in December.
Sanchez’s husband, Jerry Ledbetter, and their surviving children still live in Oregon.
“I’m a single father, limited on funds,” Ledbetter said. “This came out of nowhere.”
The family set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes of raising enough money to bring Sanchez and Banuelos’ bodies to their final resting place in Portland.
“There’s nobody out there, there’s no family or nothing,” Ledbetter said. “There might be some friends… but everyone is out here. It’s just better for them to be here.”
The whole family once lived in Orlando for a brief period of time, according to Ledbetter, but they moved back to the west coast due to safety concerns.
Ledbetter says his wife had plans to move back to Portland. The couple celebrated their 12th anniversary on Valentine’s day and Sanchez turned 36 just last week.
Banuelos would have celebrated her 17th birthday next week. She had aspirations of becoming a writer or lawyer, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Police are still working to identify any suspects in the murders.
Filed under: Crime, National, Portland, Top Video
