Man allegedly tried to kill his stepdaughter and bit his ex-wife during a violent altercation in Miami

MIAMI – Miami police arrested a man on Friday on a number of crimes, including attempted murder, after he allegedly tried to kill his stepdaughter during a violent altercation.

According to police, 64-year-old Luis Damas went to his ex-wife's apartment (whose address was redacted from a police report) and knocked on her door on Wednesday evening.

The report said Damas, of northwest Miami-Dade, had been married to the woman for 13 years and the couple separated seven months before the incident.

According to police, the woman went outside and told Damas that a friend was visiting and she would talk to him later.

At around 10 p.m., as she was walking through the hallway with her friend, she met Damas again, police said.

The report states that as the woman's friend got into the elevator and left the building, Damas began arguing with the victim. He yelled at her and asked where his stepdaughter was, claiming “she was the reason they couldn't be together.”

According to police, Damas forced the victim into the apartment while asking about his stepdaughter, then pulled out a gun and said he would kill her.

He then went into a bedroom where his stepdaughter was lying on a bed; she jumped down and tried to hide under a mattress, police said.

Damas then said, “I'm going to kill you,” and fired a shot at his stepdaughter, but missed her, the report said.

According to police, Damas' ex began to “wrestle” with him and her stepdaughter jumped on him to disarm him.

The report states that he began “biting his ex-wife all over her body,” after which she “grabbed a wine bottle from the kitchen and began hitting” Damas to stop the attack.

According to police, his ex Damas “begged” to “stop and calm down so they could talk.”

Investigators were told that Damas “calmed down but held his stepdaughter by the hair while sitting on the couch and did not allow her to leave the apartment,” authorities said.

The report states that Damas slid the gun under his thigh and was willing to talk. He later asked his ex-wife to help him “clean up the crime scene” in the apartment. She told her to “sweep and mop the floor and collect all evidence from the crime scene and place it in a blue garbage bag.”

According to the police report, Damas' ex went outside with him to assure him that she would not call the police. The report states that he threatened to have her “killed by hitmen he knew” if they did so.

The victims called police the next day and went to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment of their injuries, the report said.

Authorities would find Damas at his home in the 5300 block of Northwest 174th Drive, west of Miami Gardens, and take him into custody on Friday.

In addition to one count of attempted murder, Damas is charged with two counts each of burglary resulting in bodily harm, deprivation of liberty with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm.

He also faces additional charges of attempted tampering with evidence and aggravated assault, bringing his total to nine serious crimes.

Damas, a Cuban national, has been held without bail at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center since Monday morning.