Gared Wayne Canales, a Florida fugitive, has been apprehended in Massachusetts after allegedly telling his pregnant teenage daughter to commit suicide on her birthday.
On the phone, Canales reportedly referred to his daughter as worthless and commanded her to “kill yourself, just don’t say it.” The distressed teen responded to her father’s words by cutting herself and swallowing 14 Benadryl pills, but was able to survive the suicide attempt. Canales, originally from Palm Coast, has since been extradited back to Flagler County to face child abuse charges.
The victim told police that her father had called her a “b—h” and other offensive names before suggesting she kill herself. Later, she took a knife and cut her wrist, and then wielded a bat to smash a picture of herself with her father followed by another slit on her wrist. The next day, while in a car with her mother, she took 14 Benadryl pills, and her mother took her to the hospital where her stomach was pumped. At the hospital, it was revealed that the girl had attempted suicide due to her father telling her to do so.
After an arrest is issued on April 14, the police started a search for Canales at his last known address in Louisiana. However, he had already gone into hiding and was located in Massachusetts this past weekend. He is now in custody and has to pay a $10,000 bond for the felony child abuse charge. In addition, a restraining order has been put into place to prevent Canales from interacting with his daughter.
In a related case, Canales’ cousin, Jonathan Canales, is serving life in prison for trying to kill his girlfriend and the mother of his child in 2014.