Hendry County woman arrested for murder, arson

Reporter: Adam Wright
Published: Updated:
Hendry County Sheriff’s Office

CLEWISTON, Fla.- A woman is facing first-degree murder and arson charges in the death of a man in the Montura community.

Hendry County deputies were called to the scene of a house fire Saturday on the 100 block of Avenida Del Centro after firefighters extinguished the flames and found the body of 79-year-old Federico Gomez inside. Firefighters told deputies it appeared the fire was deliberately set in multiple locations around the home.

Investigators also found several bullet casings and blood inside the kitchen, as well as on a truck outside.

On Monday, Hendry County deputies identified 42-year-old Sheryl Denise Acevedo as a suspect in the arson and death of Gomez and arrested her at her home on Perimeter Road in the Montura Ranch Estates area.

Acevedo’s husband, Daniel Long, says his wife has been caring for Gomez for the past six months, cleaning his home and giving him baths. Long says he was not with his wife Saturday night, but doesn’t believe she’s a murderer.

“I don’t believe it really, ’cause the way they described it to me, they say that she beat the man real bad and then shot him. She didn’t have the strength to beat nobody,” said Long.

Reinaldo Cueves, 69, who lives in a mobile trailer behind Gomez, is also in custody for obstruction of justice. Hendry County investigators say Cueves continually changed his story after being questioned by authorities.

Acevedo is being held without bond in the Hendry County Jail.

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