Man fatally st-abbed girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter in Dover

The man accused of “brutally” mur*dering his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter in Dover has been arrested.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Angel Gabriel Cuz-Choc, 31, fled into the woods after stabbing the victims, about three hours before deputies learned of the de*aths.

In a news conference Thursday, Chronister said that despite the “head start,” law enforcement teams “never gave up,” using undercover detectives, K-9 units and various technology to track down the suspect and take him into custody.

“This mur*derer, who committed this heinous, vile and unthinkable cri*me against these two innocent victims, is under arrest,” Chronister said.

At one point during the search, the suspect reached out to some friends for help.

Cuz-Choc was discovered leaving the area of an abandoned farmhouse and barn at the 5600 block of Glen Harwell Road. He spotted an undercover detective who was watching him and fled to an area with extremely dense vegetation.

“He may have been able to outrun the visual sight of the deputies that were out here, but he couldn’t outrun the scent of this K-9,” Chronister said. “The K-9 took us right to him.”

Chronister said Cuz-Choc was able to slip out of his jacket and out of the K-9’s grip. He was taken into custody after deputies reached him.

“This murd*erer will now face the full weight of the cri*minal justice system for the heinous and vile mu*rders that he committed against these two innocent victims,” Chronister said.

Cuz-Choc was removed from the woods to speak with investigators, who were attempting to interview him at the time of the news conference.

On Wednesday night, Chronister described the Sumner Road homicide scene as “extremely gruesome” after deputies responded to the home.

When they arrived, they found the 36-year-old woman laying dea*d in a pool of blood in the backyard, Sheriff Chad Chronister said. Deputies also discovered the body of her 4-year-old daughter inside the home.

A neighbor told deputies they heard a woman scream at about 3:40 p.m., but didn’t contact law enforcement because it “wasn’t something out of the ordinary,” Chronister said. There was no record of calls for service at that address.

“Deputies arrived on scene and immediately discovered that it was an extremely gruesome scene. Gruesome scene,” Chronister said in a news conference Wednesday. “An adult female laying in the backyard of the house in her own puddle of blood. A bloody handprint that we believe was hers and she was fighting for her life trying to escape the violence.”

Deputies believe the three of them moved to the area from Guatemala about seven months ago, according to conversations with neighbors. Chronister said Cuz-Choc entered the country unlawfully, so the exact date they moved to Hillsborough County is unknown.

Chronister said the 4-year-old girl is not Cuz-Choc’s daughter. Detectives believe her father is still in Guatemala.

It is unknown what charges Cuz-Choc faces.