Police say marital issues led to murder-suicide of Port St. Lucie couple
By Sooji Nam
Click here for updates on this story
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WPBF) — Community members are in disbelief after learning that their neighbors died in a murder-suicide over the weekend.
“I just could not believe what happened,” Chris Zitani, a family friend of the victims, said.
“I was shocked,” Marie Moreau, a neighbor, said.
Port St. Lucie Police rushed to the 5400 block of NW Cromey Street after reports of gunshots shortly before 3 a.m. on Sunday.
When they got there, officers found Gilles Ballay, 51, and Giselle Ballay, 52, dead in their bedroom. Investigators believe he shot her multiple times while she was sleeping before turning the gun on himself.
“It revealed basically that they’ve been having some marital issues, talk about divorce. Around 1:30 in the morning, we believe that the suspect, Mr. Ballay had contact with the two 16-year-olds, basically telling them to go to bed because they had church in the morning,” Port St. Lucie Police Richard Del Toro said.
Officials said the two teens were the couple’s daughter, and her friend who was visiting from out of town. They were physically unharmed from the shooting.
“I’ve been over their house, you know? Yeah, it’s crazy and the daughter’s always walking to dogs. I talk to her all the time,” Zitani said.
He said Gilles Ballay was a good friend, and that he and his wife were great neighbors.
“He was a real nice guy, he helped you do anything. Come over, he helped you trim trees. You know? Even did some painting for me,” he added.
At this time, police will continue their investigation by interviewing neighbors and family about this tragic domestic violence situation.
“This is a homicide situation and a suicide situation. So, we want to make sure that those victims are being reached out to,” Del Toro said.
WPBF 25 News had asked the police chief whether there were any previous calls for service, and Del Toro said there was one call for a medical issue in the past, but nothing related to domestic incidents.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
