Florida Man Who Allegedly Butchered Wife And Daughter With Machete Arrested

A manhunt ended in Florida after a man accused of hacking his wife and 10-year-old daughter to death with a machete was taken into police custody.

Noel Chambers, 57, was arrested Wednesday following a days-long search of the Miami area. Police found the bodies of Lorrice Harris, 49, and Shayla Chambers,10, at their home Saturday following an attack. Chambers' elder daughter, 29-year-old Shanalee Chambers, was found with multiple stab wounds at the same scene and is currently being treated at a hospital. 

Police discovered Chambers outside of a Miami fire station. He was recognized by firemen, who immediately alerted officers to his location, Carlos Austin, the police department's public information officer, told ABC News.

"Chief Delma K. Noel-Pratt, chief of police of the Miami Gardens Police Department, directed all of our resources to ensure that we took Mr. Chambers into custody," Austin said. "Mr. Chambers committed a horrible crime, was considered to be armed and dangerous, therefore we wanted to ensure we captured him quick, and without further incident."

Police officers who discovered the bodies of Chambers' family members after receiving a call about a disturbance at the home at around 11:30 pm on Saturday were horrified by what they saw.

"That scene was terrible. It was just heart-wrenching to see what occurred at that location," Noel-Pratt said after seeing the bodies, according to ABC. "These two individuals did not deserve that. His oldest daughter didn't deserve to be in the hospital right now, trying to recover from wounds that she received after he took it upon himself to take a machete and go slicing up their bodies ... If he could do this to his wife and his own 10-year-old daughter, he will do it to someone else."

Shayla's body had been found lying in her bed; Harris was found outside on the porch. Shanalee escaped the worst of the attack and was immediately rushed to a facility where she received emergency medical care.

Harris had been celebrating her 49th birthday shortly before her life was taken.

Ashlee Anderson, Harris' daughter, was also appalled by Chambers' actions.

“You planned to kill her on her birthday,” Anderson told the Miami Herald before Chambers had been captured. “To come home and be killed after a good day of having fun. Please just give yourself up. If he can do that to his own daughter, his own wife, this is not a man. This is a monster.”

Anderson confirmed that Harris and Chambers had been married for a decade. Family members also confirmed that Harris had traveled to Jamaica for the wedding and had helped Chambers migrate to the United States. They had never known him be violent before, but noted his behavior had been controlling. Anderson said that Chambers forcing Harris to isolate from other members of her family had caused arguments between her and her mother that had only recently been reconciled.

The attack occurred after Harris said she wanted a divorce, according to The Sun Sentinel. 

Chambers was interviewed by police for hours after his capture and is now being held at the Turner Guilford Knight correctional center, according to The Miami Herald. He’s been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and another count of attempted first-degree murder.