Eixchel Berroteran, a popular TikTok influencer in South Florida who was allegedly shot by her ex-stepdad, released bombshell new details on the incident in an interview alongside her mother, revealing that the attack was originally planned to be a murder-suicide, with the step father declaring during the incident that he "came here to die".
"I just said, 'How sad that these are the last minutes of my life,'" Berroteran said, referencing the moment she believed she was going to die at the hands of her mother's ex-husband, Luis Damas.
Damas and Berroteran's mother, Francys Damas, were married for 13 years prior to separating eight months ago, according to NBC Miami.
On August 21, Damas arrived at the mother and daughter's apartment with the intention of killing them both.
"I felt so bad for my mom; I was saying, 'God, please,'" Berroteran told NBC sister station, Telemundo 51.
According to the arrest report, he barged into their residence that day, yelling and asking where Berroteran was while blaming her for he and Francys' separation.
"She was the reason we could not be together," he reportedly shouted.
The 64-year-old made his way to a bedroom, found Berroteran, and fired a shot in her direction as she jumped off the bed and tried to hide under a mattress.
"I'm going to kill you," he kept saying.
"He starts to point the gun at me. I throw myself on the floor and start to yell at him to please not do anything," recalled Berroteran.
"And in a matter of seconds I hear the gunshot that, I'm not exaggerating, was centimeters away from me."
"Eixchel kept screaming, 'Help, help, help!' Both of us, very loudly. And he'd say, 'Shut up, shut up, because if the police get here, this is over... I came here to die,'" revealed Francys, leading her to believe the attack was actually meant to be a murder-suicide.
Francys went on to describe how she wrestled with her ex to defend her daughter while he repeatedly accused Berroteran of being the source of their separation.
Damas was later arrested on charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, burglary with assault or battery, attempted tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment, and felony battery.
He is currently being held without bond.
However, both women remain terrified.
"The same way he threatened to kill us and tried to do it... we don't know if he really knows bad people who could try to hurt us," Berroteran exclaimed.
