‘We had a chance to save your loved one’s life and we failed,’ the Broward County sheriff said. Seven Florida cops have been placed on leave after their sheriff said their handling of a domestic violence case was “p*** poor.”. "Basically, we had a chance to save your loved one’s life and we failed,” Tony added.
![[Nathan Gingles was arrested on murder and kidnapping charges, among others]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/24/0/49/Nathan-Gingless-booking-photo.png)
Now, Mary’s husband Nathan Gingles has been arrested on several charges, including murder, kidnapping and child abuse. On February 16, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office responded to shooting reports in Tamarac. There, they found Mary Gingles’s father David Ponzer, 64, dead from a gunshot wound on her back patio.
![[Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony did not hold back when describing his deputies handling of a case.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/24/0/28/Broward-County-Sheriff-Gregory-Tony.png)
Then, while searching a Ferrin’s neighboring home, police also found him and Mary had been fatally shot. Police also discovered Mary’s four-year-old daughter Seraphine Gingles had been taken from the home by Nathan. Police issued a statewide Amber Alert and found her just hours later “safe and unharmed” in Nathan’s car.
The four-year-old then told investigators her father shot her mother “a hundred” times, NBC News reports. Mary filed her first domestic violence injunction against Nathan a year ago — while seeking a divorce — before filing a second one in December, NBC News reports.
She also made at least two calls about domestic violence, with the first one coming in October. "It’s clear that we probably could have done more in that element and that’s what we’re looking at," Tony said of the October call. Mary made the second call in December, telling the responding deputy she was afraid Nathan would kill her.
Tony said deputies could have pursued arresting Nathan after that — but did not. "This is just a matter of what I’ve seen of p***-poor performance, complacency, and people not doing their due diligence," Tony said. He branded it: "bull**** work.". The seven officers on leave are: Michael Paparella; Travis Allen; Devoune Williams; Ilany Ceballos; Brittney King; Joseph Sasso; and Daniel Munoz.
