The last time Jorge Vidal spoke to his son Banner, the 28-year-old seemed “very happy.”
“It was a quick conversation,” the elder Vidal told The Daily Beast in Spanish on Wednesday. “He was really content in his new relationship and had just moved into [his girlfriend’s] house with her and her daughter.”
But just three days later, Vidal said, his son was fatally shot inside his new Miami-area apartment by his girlfriend’s jealous ex in a grisly premeditated attack, one that cops described as a bid to “take” the man’s “soul.” According to police, on Monday morning, 41-year-old Jose Aranibar-Camacho confessed to shooting his ex and her new boyfriend inside their North Bay Village apartment.
While police have not identified the victims—citing state law—family have identified Banner Vidal as the deceased male and Brittany Springmyer as the wounded ex who is currently being treated at a local hospital. Aranibar-Camacho and Springmyer’s infant daughter was also in the apartment at the time of the brazen attack but was unharmed.
Aranibar-Camacho is being held without bond after pleading not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder, and child neglect charges. He has also been ordered to stay away from his ex. Neither his attorney nor his family immediately responded to a request for comment.
“He is a monster. He is the devil,” Vidal said on Wednesday about his son’s alleged killer. “He took my son away—all because he was jealous.”
Vidal added that he still has so many questions about his son’s murder, noting that Banner never mentioned Aranibar-Camacho—nor problems in his relationship. Admitting that his son was sometimes “selective” in what he shared with his family, Vidal said that all he ever heard was “happy things” about Springmyer and her infant daughter—and that his son stressed that he believed he had found “the one.”
“I even asked once about the father, but he never said anything. I think he was trying to protect me,” Vidal added.
But Belkys Quintero, Banner’s mother, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that her son once told her that Aranibar-Camacho “was abusive toward Brittany and that he would drink a lot.”
“He seemed concerned about him, but not too much,” Quintero said in Spanish. “I never thought that that man was going to murder my son.”
An arrest report obtained by The Daily Beast states that officers arrived at the Miami apartment around 7:45 a.m. after neighbors reported shots fired. As officers approached, the report states that Aranibar-Camacho was found “walking away” from the unit “holding a firearm in his right hand.”
Aranibar-Camacho “made a spontaneous statement to the officer stating that he killed” his ex’s boyfriend and shot her inside the apartment, the report states.
In cellphone footage obtained by Local10, Aranibar-Camacho can be seen on the ground in handcuffs as he apparently confesses to the shooting—yelling in Spanish, “I killed my ex’s fucking boyfriend.”
“I shot my girlfriend, too,” he added.
Inside, police found one man “laying on the floor of the apartment, suffering multiple gunshot sounds” who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman, who had suffered a gunshot wound, was transported to a local hospital, the arrest report states. The Vidals both told The Daily Beast that Springmyer’s condition has improved while she is being treated at a local hospital. (Attempts to reach the Springmyer family were unsuccessful.)
The arrest report states that during a police interview back at the station, Aranibar-Camacho confessed again to the shooting and admitted being angry that his ex was living with another man. Aranibar-Camacho added “that he and the female victim were in a previous romantic relationship and the child within the apartment at the time of the shooting was their child.”
Aranibar-Camacho then told police that he bought gauze, a tourniquet, and a blood-clotting treatment in case he became injured during the incident. He also is said to have admitted that he arrived at the apartment two hours before he opened fire and waited in his car—and that he thought he was “going to ‘take’ the male victim’s ‘soul.’”
His plans were also detailed in a handwritten note that included an apology to his family, police said.
In a statement, the Springmyer family confirmed that Brittany “was attacked and her boyfriend was murdered in front of her 2-year-old daughter.”
“The shooter is Brittany’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her child. Brittany and him were never married and had been separated for months,” the statement added. “Our family welcomed Brittany’s new boyfriend to Thanksgiving dinner only days ago. They were so excited about this new phase of their lives.”
The family said that Aranibar-Camacho committed the crime out of “pure jealousy, an inability to move on, and a complete disregard for his daughter’s wellbeing.”
“Our daughter Brittany is an amazing person, but a mother first,” the family continued. “She adores her 2-year-old little girl and does everything to create the best life for her. She’s also artistic, creative, and passionate about her job teaching dance. Right now, we are focused on our daughter who is still in critical condition, and our granddaughter is safe in our custody.”
For Jorge Vidal, the reality of losing his “strong, beautiful” son is crushing—but still feels like a bad nightmare. Before hanging up with The Daily Beast on Wednesday, the father said he was on the way to the funeral home to see his son’s body for the first time.
“Once I see him, I know this is all real,” he added. “Everyone loved him, I just can’t believe he is now gone and that this monster took him.”
