SAN ANTONIO – After his mother was found dead from an apparent murder-suicide, a 13-year-old is calling for greater awareness about domestic violence.
Angelina Bryand, 32, was found stabbed to death Friday morning inside her apartment on Randolph Boulevard.
Bryand shared a child with David Castro Rodriguez, 33. According to San Antonio police, Castro Rodriguez killed Bryand, then later committed suicide as a SWAT team closed in on the apartment.
Bryand’s oldest son, Erick Jeremy Hernandez, who goes by his middle name, said the deadly violence has left his family devastated.
“I feel so heartbroken, knowing that my mother will never be here now and this all could have been prevented,” Hernandez said. “It breaks my heart knowing that he ruined my family. He broke a part of me, and he broke a part of my family and he left a hole in me.”
As he returned to the apartment with his father on Monday morning to collect his belongings, Hernandez said the incident also left his younger siblings traumatized.
Hernandez said he was spending time at another relative’s home when the violence unfolded in the apartment, which he also shared with his 8- and 10-year-old sisters and baby brother.
Police said they found the three younger children inside the home uninjured. However, Hernandez said his siblings were far from being OK.
He said his sisters told them Castro Rodriguez stabbed his mother on March 28, then they spent a full day watching her bleed to death.
They had been inside the apartment with her body for nearly a week, Hernandez said, when police arrived at the home on Friday in response to a welfare check call from another family member.
He said the two girls told him Castro Rodriguez held them hostage, threatening to also kill them if they called for help.
“They’re shaking,” he said. “They’re still traumatized and think that my mom’s going to come back. I feel so bad for them because she’s never going to come back.”
Hernandez said what disturbs him even more is that no one else called for help. He said with the commotion this likely caused, neighbors must have heard something.
One neighbor told KSAT that he heard a disturbance that day and later smelled the odor of a decomposing body, but did not realize the seriousness of what was happening.
The neighbor said in hindsight, he wished he had called 911.
Hernandez said he hopes what happened will raise awareness about the dangers of domestic violence and prompt people to be more proactive.
“If you hear or see, say something,” Hernandez said. Even if you don’t want to get involved, say something, because you can prevent a death.”
Domestic violence resources
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, there is a long list of resources on KSAT’s Domestic Violence page which includes a breakdown of what abuse is, and how it builds gradually.
If you are in crisis, you can:
- call or text 911
- call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233
- call the local Family Violence Prevention Services, which runs the shelter (Crisis Number: 210-733-8810, Programs and Administration: 210-930-3669)
- call the Bexar County Family Justice Center at 210-631-0100.
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