FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – It was another day of tears for Zuheily Rosado's family as they were dealt another blow.
More than a month after the gas station clerk was shot and killed at her Palm Coast place of work, her family was split in half.
After their mother's killing, Rosado's five children -- ages 6 months to 16 years -- moved away from Flagler County for their safety and moved in with relatives. They were trying to get back on their feet and get in new schools when they were separated Tuesday.
"My mom fought for them for a reason, and I know she's in heaven right now and she's probably crying because this is the last thing she wants to happen. And she's not here to stop it," said Teysha Silva-Roman, Rosado's oldest daughter, who's 16. "First they take my mom, now they take three of my siblings. We're only three left. And they don't want to leave."
Tuesday morning, Rosado's ex-boyfriend, Jose Vidal, took over custody of three of her children, ages 6, 9 and 11. He is their biological father, but they say he hasn't been in the picture for most of their lives.
Court documents show Vidal, who only speaks Spanish and didn't want to comment Tuesday, is the same man whom Rosado wrote she feared, filing for a restraining order against him after she said he stalked her and threatened to take her kids away. The judge later denied Rosado's request. Documents also show that Vidal had owed child support.
But Monday, Rosado's children say despite an obviously concerning past, a Miami-Dade judge ordered custody of three of the woman's children to Vidal. The two girls and a boy had to be handed over to the man and his family first thing in the morning so he could move them down to Miami.
As Vidal honked the horn for them to get in his van, one of the girls ran away but soon went back and got in. And with tears in their eyes, the family, already dealing with the killing of their mother, says things got even worse.
"If a tragedy happens like what happened to my mom, you try to keep the family together," said Silva-Roman, (pictured above on right). "You don't try to separate them and do that kind of stuff."
Rosado's oldest daughter said the court system has failed her family, but she's going to fight to get her brothers and sisters back under her care, where she says they belong.
"They're my siblings and they have to be with me," she said.
The Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts closed Tuesday at noon, and officials were unavailable for comment.
As the custody battle goes on, deputies are still searching for Rosado's killer. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.