BALTIMORE – Friends and family of Cynthia Aviles are grieving for the 26-year-old who police said was killed by her boyfriend in the Jacksonville apartment they shared on Jacksonville's Southside..
Police doing a welfare check found Aviles was found dead Wednesday morning and learned that her car, boyfriend, 26-year-old Norris Dail, and their 4-year-old son were missing.
Dail dropped Aviles’ son off with his mother in Baltimore on Wednesday and said he’d be back to get him in a couple of days. Dail’s mother called police after she saw the Amber Alert with the 4-year-old’s picture on it. Now, the boy is with his mother’s family.
“We have Norris Jr. with us right now, and that makes my sister very happy,” Aviles’ aunt Luz Aponte said. “Right now, that is our priority.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Dail on Thursday afternoon.
One day after finding out their niece was killed, Luz and Belinda Aponte sat down with News4Jax to talk about Aviles.
Aviles worked as a medical assistant at MedStar in Baltimore before moving to Jacksonville for what her aunts said was a change of pace and atmosphere.
They said Aviles was full of energy, and worked hard to make sure her son had what he needed. Now, her family is working out funeral arrangements.
“We're going to take care of Cynthia,” Luz Aponte said. “Give her the peace that she needs, that our family needs. That's our priority right now.”
At times fighting back tears, Luz and Belinda Aponte said the impact of this tragedy will be felt forever.
“Now, he's not going to have either a mother or a father,” Luz Aponte said. “A child needs that and he destroyed that. That child will always live with that. Always.”
As Cynthia’s picture hangs on the wall inside the Aponte home, friends and family remembered the good times, and hope that eventually Dail is caught and has to face charges.
“I just hope people understand what he did was horrific,” Luz Aponte said. “You can't hide him. If you are hiding him, or trying to protect him, he doesn't deserve it. The same way we didn't deserve to have Cynthia taken away from us the way she was.”
Aviles’ mother said she had a contentious relationship with Dail that involved domestic violence, restraining orders and custody hearings.
“There were some domestic violence issues,” Luz Aponte said. “They were separated for a while.”
“My sister felt in her heart that this was coming,” Belinda Aponte added.
Police are asking people to be on the lookout for the 2000 Silver Mitsubishi Galant, with license plate 1BK9546, that Dail may be driving.
Friday afternoon, the U.S. Marshal's Office confirmed it has joined the search for Dail.