Bodycam: Broward County Florida Sheriff's Deputies Catch Triple-Murder Suspect with Kidnapped Daughter

By Angie DiMichele and Shira Moolten

Source South Florida Sun-Sentinel

In a matter of hours on the morning of Feb. 16, Seraphine Gingles witnessed her mother, her grandfather and a stranger be shot to death, then the arrest of her father at gunpoint.

The girl was kidnapped by her father, Nathan Gingles, after the triple shootings in Tamarac. While driving to a Walmart in North Lauderdale, he told his 4-year-old daughter she would never see her mother or her Grandpa Dave again and that they were going to Texas, a probable cause affidavit said.

But in the parking lot as Gingles stood near his loaded grocery cart, deputies moved in, at least one with his gun drawn, body-worn camera videos obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday show. Seraphine screamed and cried as the gun was pointed at her father before she was taken away.

Gingles was arrested in connection with the shootings of Seraphine’s mother and his estranged wife, Mary Gingles; his father-in-law, David Ponzer; and Andrew Ferrin, a man who lived near them in the neighborhood, that unfolded nearly five hours earlier that morning.

Mary Gingles tried repeatedly to use police and the court system to protect herself from Gingles, who she was in the process of divorcing, court records show. Not long before her death, she wrote in a petition for protection against domestic violence that she feared Gingles would kill her before the end of February.

She had called the Broward Sheriff’s Office numerous times in the months and weeks before, once reporting a backpack full of suspicious supplies she found that Gingles had left in her home, in violation of a court order that was in place at the time. Another time she called after finding a tracker on her car.

She felt he was planning to kill her and “waiting for the opportune time,” she wrote in her petition. Gingles in February still had access to more than a dozen guns despite a court order that mandated he surrender them.

Gingles allegedly first shot and killed his father-in-law Ponzer while he drank coffee on his patio that morning about 6 a.m., the probable cause affidavit said. He then followed his estranged wife as she ran through the neighborhood in the 5800 block of North Plum Bay Parkway. Seraphine followed him. Mary Gingles tried to get into multiple homes before making her way into Ferrin’s. Mary Gingles and Ferrin were found shot to death inside Ferrin’s bedroom, the affidavit said.

Gingles and Seraphine were gone by the time deputies arrived, the affidavit said. Hours later, a license plate reader recorded Gingles driving in the 6900 block of West McNab Road in North Lauderdale.

Deputies found him walking out of the Walmart, at 7900 W. McNab Road, the affidavit said. The body-worn camera video shows deputies watched and waited as Gingles walked toward his car parked in the lot.

“All right, he is at the car. Let’s start to move in,” one deputy said over the radio, documenting Gingles’ moves to the other deputies before sprinting out of his car toward Gingles.

Gingles was standing near the back passenger-side door of his BMW SUV when multiple deputies swarmed him. Seraphine was in the car when deputies first ran up to Gingles, but a second deputy quickly took her away.

“Don’t you f—— move!” one deputy repeatedly shouted, with his gun pointed at Gingles.

Another deputy jumped on top of Gingles. The deputy with his gun drawn warned that he would shoot. Gingles groaned as the deputy sitting on top of his back pulled his arms behind him and the second one cuffed him.

“Don’t you f—— move, dude,” the deputy handcuffing him said. “You’re gonna get shot.”

“I’m not resisting,” Gingles said.

He stared blankly while they searched his pockets. They removed his wallet. A ring of keys. A few dollar bills. Another deputy could be seen holding Seraphine in the background as they searched her father.

Gingles sat silently on the ground, bent over with his head down after he was cuffed and his pockets searched.

“Hey, we need to do an amazing search of this guy,” one deputy said to the others. “Belt comes off. Dump every pocket. Make sure you do a good search.”

Gingles has been held in the Broward Main Jail without bond since. He was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of first-degree murder with a firearm, kidnapping, two counts of child abuse and violation of a domestic violence injunction.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Photos of suspicious bag

The backpack Mary Gingles found in her garage was full of “weird” supplies that scared her, according to a Sheriff’s Office incident report.

The Sheriff’s Office released photos of its contents this week in response to a Sun Sentinel public records request, including a pink sticky note with a handwritten list of items including “change bank and insurance beneficiaries,” “legal actions taken,” “firearms,” divorce attorneys + staff role,” and, at the bottom, “needle – air embolism.”

In the background of one photo, a child’s legs are visible.

Mary Gingles had uploaded the photos herself after Deputy Daniel Munoz visited her home on Dec. 29 to make an informational report following her finding the backpack, which surveillance footage showed Gingles had left in her garage two days prior during an illegal visit to the house. She had called deputies when she saw him entering the home on Dec. 27, but by the time they got there an hour later, he was gone.

Inside the backpack, Gingles had found, according to a Sheriff’s Office report, plastic wrap, garbage bags, gloves, a small battery, rags, hand sanitizer, “possible flex cuffs,” and “other small random items.” Other items not listed in the BSO report included duct tape, booties to go over shoes, hair nets and the pink sticky note, according to Mary Gingles’ own petition for an injunction.

She had then uploaded photos of the backpack into evidence using a link that BSO gave her, according to the report. In the photos, Mary Gingles had combed through the backpack’s contents, taking pictures of each item: the restraints; pairs of white gloves, rags and masks laid across the floor; a large bottle of vodka; a plastic bag containing gauze and Neosporin; a large battery; duct tape.

Mary Gingles also sent deputies a screenshot of texts to her father, in which, the day before, she had sent him a picture of Seraphine in front of a ladder hidden by trees, which she said her estranged husband had placed there before leaving her home on Dec. 27. He had also left the upstairs windows slightly ajar, according to her own testimony in court records.

That Sunday, Mary Gingles told Munoz she planned to throw the backpack and its contents away, according to his report. The report does not say whether she did in fact throw away the backpack or mention any attempt by BSO to take it into evidence the photos she had uploaded.

After speaking with Mary Gingles and receiving the photos, deputies did not arrest Nathan Gingles or confiscate his guns. Sheriff Gregory Tony said at a news conference in February that deputies could have had enough to arrest Nathan Gingles after that call in December.

Tony said there were numerous “shortcomings” by deputies, from when Mary Gingles called in October reporting the car tracker to the December call to the morning of the shootings, resulting in the suspension of eight deputies and the demotion of the Tamarac district captain.

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