Man accused of killing adoptive mother in Florida had troubled history – friends

Six years ago, when her adoptive son was 15, something made Natalie Belmonte reach out to her estranged husband for help with controlling the teen.

The response was disastrous, resulting in a felony child abuse charge against the husband, later reduced to the misdemeanour of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, court records show. Andre Belmonte pleaded no contest, and had to attend a parenting class and serve a term of probation.

The incident stands in stark contrast to the post mortem portrait of a happy family provided by some relatives and friends of Natalie Belmonte, whose remains were found a week ago about a mile from her Pembroke Pines home. The son, Gerard “Gerry” Belmonte, 21, is charged with first-degree murder. The funeral for Natalie Belmonte, 43, was held on Monday.

Court records and interviews with old friends who have known Gerard since he came to South Florida from Guyana when he was 10 give a more nuanced but troubling description. According to them, he was a blackout drinker and marijuana user who got into fistfights and tried to sell laptops and video games that neighbours assumed were stolen.

His behaviour also periodically raised concerns about his mental health, and he has been placed under jail suicide watch and psychiatric observation in the slaying case. He was an enthusiastic, sometimes barefoot, player of the quasi-battle game of paintball.

His adoptive mother’s body was found in the woods where Gerard Belmonte shot “guns” that spattered his opponents with bright splotches of paint. Neighbour Christian Koe was surprised when he heard Gerard had been accused of placing the body in the woods. But then he had a second thought.

“Once I heard he did it, it wasn’t shocking that he’d put her there,” Koe said. “That was the best place he knew of.” Over the past decade, the Belmontes faced hardships like any other modern family: divorce, bankruptcy, and strained relationships. Natalie was known as a spunky, hardworking real estate agent who was good to children, and who liked to garden, work out at the gym and decorate her home in Pasadena Estates.

In 2000, Natalie was a stay-at-home mother, married to Andre and raising their two biological children, Brianna, nine, and Aidan, seven. Her uncle, Gerard’s father, died in her homeland of Guyana, and she brought her first cousin to South Florida and adopted him.

Shortly before Christmas that year, Natalie and Andre filed for bankruptcy. She took a job at Home Depot, and three years later obtained a licence to start her career in real estate sales. Natalie and Andre separated in 2005 and lived in homes less than two miles apart. Though the parents had shared custody, Brianna and Aidan lived with their father in recent years, while Gerard stayed with Natalie, neighbours said.

“He always wanted to make a quick buck.” In February 2006, Natalie called in Andre to discipline Gerard. At some point, Andre struck Gerard on the shin, knee and thighs with an aluminium bat, according to a police report. “Their son presented extraordinary challenges to them,” said Mark Eiglarsh, a Miami attorney who represented Andre and spoke to Natalie at the time.

“They both cared a lot about him.” Though Gerard attended Somerset Academy Charter School, he never discussed his ambitions or plans, neighbour Koe said. Many friends doubt he graduated from high school. He lived at Natalie’s home and worked at her office, neighbours said. He never obtained a driver’s licence. “I don’t think he worried about anything,” Koe said. “I guess he was going with the flow.” (Orlando Sentinel)