Questions mount in death of Fort Myers mother

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A death investigation is unfolding after a young woman was discovered dead in her apartment near Winkler Avenue and US-41 Sunday night.

Fort Myers police said they are working with medical examiners to determine the cause of death for 26-year-old Heyzel Obando.

A GoFundMe page set up by Obando’s friend says the woman was found shot to death insider her apartment, but that has not been confirmed by authorities.

Close friends and neighbors are now wondering whether Obando’s partner, 30-year-old Earl Joiner, may know something about her death.

One of Obando’s friends said Obando would come crying to her because of problems with Joiner. In 2013, Joiner was arrested, but not convicted, twice for battery and domestic violence against Obando.

The couple’s downstairs neighbor at Maple Crest Apartments said she saw Joiner acting very oddly walking up the stairs to his apartment one night but Obando later told her things were fine.

“There was one day I saw something very strange,” she said. “When I saw this person all out of it I didn’t know what was going on. I talked to her and she said ‘Everything is great.'”

Obando had two young daughters who the Department of Children and Families said are safe in its custody.

No one has been arrested in connection to Obando’s death. Police are calling their investigation a death investigation and not releasing many details.