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LITTLE HAITI (CBSMiami) – At a vigil Thursday night, a Little Haiti father continued to mourn the loss of his two young children.
Frantzy Belval’s daughter Laura and son Jeffrey were murdered. The accused killer: Odette Joassaint, their mother.
Belval forgives her while pointing the blame at the police and the Department of Children and Families.
“Miami-Dade police, city of Miami, DCF are responsible for my kids’ death,” he said.
A grief-stricken Belval recalled recent conversations with his 5-year-old daughter Laura.
“She tells Miami-Dade police, ‘I don’t want to live with my mother,’” he said.
Cassandre Raymond has known Joassaint for four years. She told CBS4 that a third child was recently removed from the home before the murders, and it took a toll on Joassaint.
“The situation now has so much to do with that,” Raymond said.
The two children left behind are now memorialized on the steps and yard where they once joyfully played.
“They had the playground right there. No puedo. No puedo.”
Edith lives in the same building as the family. Her grief poured out Thursday night, mourning the loss of Laura and 3-year-old Jeffrey.
She spoke with Joassaint around 6 p.m. Tuesday night, the day she was arrested for the murders. Edith said Joassaint told her she had not eaten in days and was disoriented.
“You could tell the kids were already dead, but she couldn’t say anything. She was bumbling around, like, ‘Who I talk to?’” she said.
Joassaint’s friends call her a great mother who was in distress.
Thursday night, a fixture in the community, Big-E Momma spray-painted signs, displaying them outside the home. One read: “Depression Kills.” It’s a signal those in Little Haiti need more mental health support.
“What you’re hearing is the intricate details of one situation. But what you’re hearing is an example of a lot of silent situations going on around here. As silent as that baby looking out the window,” Big-E Momma said.
While questions linger on how this could happen, so does Belval’s pain of losing his only children.
“I miss everything. I give them love, they give me love,” he said. “I forgive Odette for what she do. She gives me two kids. She takes them back from me. Or God takes them back. I forgive her.”
CBS4 has reached out to DCF. The department said it has opened an investigation and are working with law enforcement to uncover the circumstances that caused the tragic deaths.