A heartbreaking tragedy unfolded in Miami, Florida, when a 20-year-old man allegedly strangled his teenage girlfriend to death and left her body in the backyard of his home. The suspect, Dominique Domond, is now facing a second-degree murder charge for the death of 17-year-old Janise Barthold.
The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office said they got a call on Monday night about an unresponsive woman in the backyard of a home near Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast 107th Street. When deputies arrived, they met Domond’s mother, who led them to where Barthold’s lifeless body lay on the ground. Paramedics quickly arrived, but it was too late—she was pronounced dead at the scene.
At first, Domond reportedly told his mother that he had been attacked by Barthold and another unknown man, which led him to fight back and strangle her. But when police questioned him further, he admitted that no one else was there. He confessed that he choked her during an argument and then dumped her body outside.
Detectives arrested Domond on Tuesday, and he is currently in jail without bond.
As the community grieves this devastating loss, Barthold’s family and friends came together on Wednesday night to honor her memory with a candlelight vigil and a balloon release. Her brother, Quincy Vincent, shared his heartbreak, saying he wished he could have done more to protect her.
“She didn’t deserve this at all,” he said. “She was a beautiful young girl. This is just tragic. He shouldn’t have gone that far with domestic violence. It didn’t have to go like that. I’m so sorry for all of this. I don’t even know how to say I’m sorry to myself for letting her down.”
Many people at the vigil wore T-shirts with Barthold’s picture on them, but her loved ones said they would much rather have her with them instead. Her aunt, overcome with emotion, spoke about how painful it was to see her niece’s face on a shirt instead of having her by her side.
“I’m not happy that she’s on my shirt, to be honest,” she said. “I don’t want her to be on my shirt. I want her to be physically here with me. To me, it’s a shame that I have to put on a shirt to represent her. That is not something that I do with pride. That’s something that I do with humiliation and with my head down.”
In an effort to give Barthold the farewell she deserves, Vincent started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.
“A beautiful soul was taken away due to tragic domestic violence,” he wrote.
As the investigation continues, the community is left mourning the loss of a young life taken too soon.
