Nobody on Reena Drive ever expected a quiet Monday evening to turn into an absolute nightmare. Jacqueline Reyes was just forty-four years old, trying her best to start fresh in Daytona Beach after walking away from a rocky past. She had moved into her cozy townhome about a year ago, focusing on her life and raising her three boys. But on July 27 around six in the evening, that peaceful new beginning was shattered in the most horrific way imaginable.
Jacqueline was actually on the phone with one of her sons when the trouble started. Out of nowhere, her estranged husband, fifty-four-year-old Robert Reyes Jr., showed up at the back door. He was furious after learning that Jacqueline had finally started dating other people and moving on with her life. Before she could even process what was happening, Robert forced his way through the door, causing her son on the line to hear the commotion, hang up, and frantically dial 911 for help.
Inside the townhome, Robert pulled out a gun and shot Jacqueline, taking her life right there on the spot. Investigators later noted that after firing the fatal shot, Robert apparently tried to turn the weapon on himself right then and there. However, the gun malfunctioned, leaving him alive in the quiet home. Panicking, he ran out the door, hopped into a gray four-door sedan, and sped away into the evening, leaving neighbors in complete shock.
When Daytona Beach police officers rushed to the Reena Drive home, they found Jacqueline already gone. Word quickly spread to family and friends, leaving the whole community completely heartbroken. Everyone knew Jacqueline as a loving woman who gave everything for her kids. To think that her life was cut short inside her own home, while talking to her own child, made the loss hit even harder for everyone who cared about her.
This tragic evening was unfortunately not the first time Jacqueline had to deal with fear. Back in December 2025, police had to respond to her home after Robert broke in, ransacked the place, and even poured bleach all over her clothes. Way back in 2017, Jacqueline had even sought a restraining order against him, though the court case ended up getting dismissed when she missed a court date. She had spent years trying to create space and keep her family safe, only for danger to follow her.
While Daytona Beach officers secured the crime scene, nearby law enforcement agencies were placed on high alert to track down Robert’s car. Less than an hour later, automated license plate readers flagged his sedan rolling through Titusville near South Washington Avenue and Garden Street. When Titusville police tried pulling him over near the A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway, Robert took off, lost control, and crashed straight into a pond at Sand Point Park.
Officers tried calling out to Robert inside the submerged car, but there was no response. When they pulled him out, they found he had taken his own life with a gunshot wound, recovering two firearms from the vehicle. Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young called the whole ordeal an overwhelming tragedy. In a matter of just two short hours, Jacqueline’s three sons lost both of their parents, leaving an entire town mourning a devoted mother whose life was taken far too soon.
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