VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A person of interest in the death of a 25-year-old man is in custody, Volusia County deputies said.
Gregory Bender is in the Orange County Jail on unrelated charges of a violation of an injunction.
Patrick De La Cerda was found shot and killed at his Deltona home Tuesday.
Deputies said someone got onto De La Cerda’s gated property and shot him through his front door.
Channel 9’s Lauren Seabrook obtained court records and found a statement from Bender's ex-girlfriend, who is De La Cerda's girlfriend.
In the documents, the woman, who Eyewitness News will not identify since she’s a domestic violence victim, asked the court for protection from Bender and wrote that he "continues to manipulate me by telling me he is going to commit suicide."
The woman also wrote in the documents that Bender was "threatening my current boyfriend and family so that I am forced to see him."
The woman wrote that on Nov. 14, Bender "brandished a gun stating he was going to kill Patrick and himself."
The woman said two days later Bender stalked her at her job and "threatened to hire a hitman and hurt Patrick.”
The woman also showed the court text of a of a recorded voicemail in which Bender told her "nothing on earth is going to make me stop from being with you."
The arrest was in violation of the protection order because Bender contacted the woman two times the same day of De La Cerda’s killing.
No arrests have been made.
This is a developing story. Follow Lauren Seabrook on Twitter and wftv.com for updates.
Cox Media Group
