WATCH LIVE | 4 arrested in murder of Auburndale father. Police explain how it all started with an online dating site.
Auburndale police say Adam Hilarie, 27, was shot and killed inside his apartment on Sunset Ave. around 6:30 p.m. Friday night. Police have arrested four individuals for their involvement in the homicide.
Andre Maurice Warner, 26, Gary Terrell Gray, 31, Joshua Ellington, 26 and Hailey Rose Bustos, 18, were arrested and charged.
They were all charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with a firearm/deadly weapon and first degree murder. Ellington and Bustos also face charges for violating their probation.
Police say Bustos met Hilarie on an online dating site and went out on a date on Thursday evening. Hilarie reportedly picked up Bustos and after the date, he dropped her back off. Bustos then reportedly returned to his apartment with other suspects to rob Hilarie.
Police were initially called to investigate a suspicious death and later ruled Hilarie's death a homicide. Friends and family tell ABC Action News he was shot to death.
Dozens gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the apartment where the deadly shooting happened in Hilarie's memory Saturday night.
"I knew he was loved, but this is amazing," said Anna Cruz, Hilarie's mother.
Adam Hilarie's family and friends are devastated following his murder. They say Adam had a beaming smile, kind heart, and a huge love for the Florida State Seminoles.
"He just had this spirit about him, and it was inexplicable, you know. He brought out the good in everyone," said Angel Cruz, Adam's brother.
The light of Adam's life, was his five-year-old daughter Lajaya.
"I miss my daddy because he's with Jesus," Lajaya said.
As those closest to Adam come together and grieve, they're struggling to understand why anyone would want to kill him.
"It's pointless to have that in your heart to want to be violent and kill someone else. I just don't get it. I don't understand how people could even want to be like that," Angel Cruz said.
Police told the family it doesn't look like Adam Hilarie's apartment was broken into, but his family says some expensive electronics and jewelry are missing. So they're clinging to the keepsakes left behind, like Adam's boxing medals.
"Please, if you know anything, just say something, for my daughter. If not for yourself, then for my daughter," said Shayla Mills, Lajaya's mother.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Adam Hilarie's family.
