New details arise in murder-suicide shooting

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) --  A day after an unimaginable tragedy at home, we are learning more about what that father did before, police said, he turned on his own family.

Eduardo and Marco Zavala's older brother Manny said he dropped his two younger brothers off at school Friday morning. He had spent Thursday night at his mother Victoria's house, then talked to his dad, Isidro, on the phone about their plans for Super Bowl Sunday.

The little boys did not live that long after, neither did their dad. "He called me like at 6 p.m.," said Isidro's best friend, Mariano Batalla. "He told me that he had something to do, so I said, 'OK'. He said, 'have fun.'"

Early Saturday morning, police said Isidro Zavala broke into his estranged wife's home wearing all black. She heard and commotion and told police she found the father of her children strangling Eduardo with a rope.

Police said Isidro pulled 11-year-old Marco from the bedroom into the kitchen where he shot him several times. His mother pleaded. "She begged, 'why would you kill them? Why didn't you kill me?'," said an officer, "and he said, 'No, you're going to live with this.'"

Zavala then turned the gun on himself. "I feel so, so, so sad," said Batalla, "cause he's my best friend, and he didn't tell me anything about this."

Neighbors are also saddened. "If you're depressed, you kill yourself," said Mina Lehya, "but you don't kill your children. The mother now has to face all this. I feel sorry and overwhelmed. It's hard to find the right words."

Inside the house, police said they found another bag with extra ammunition, duct tape and cutting shears, and an emotional note written to his oldest son Manny who is still alive. "I don't know what the kids did to him," said Billy Alsin, "I just feel sad."

According to their brother, Eduardo and Marco were in science programs in school and would have been drafted in little league teams Saturday morning.

Manny Zavala said he has not had time to read the notes written to him by his father. He said he was supposed to be with his dad and his brothers watching the Super Bowl Sunday night, now all three of them are dead.

Victoria and Isidro were separated for some time. According to court documents, she filed for divorce in October. Manny said he did not know about the divorce until December. Manny and his mother are now making funeral arrangements they never thought they would have to make.

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