Friends of man who killed partner and himself say she was unfaithful (2024)

A beloved reading teachers' friends say she had cheated on her fiancée shortly before he stabbed her to death and shot himself as their baby cried in a nearby crib. They said that Carlos Diaz (pictured), 25, was in a 'blind rage' for a while following the discovery, which only became worse when he found out that Amanda Hicks (pictured top right), 26, had an abortion. Hicks was found stabbed to death inside their new Port St. Lucie, Florida apartment on Saturday, with Diaz lying dead several feet away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officers have said that when they arrived at the residence, they heard the couple's 11-month-old daughter (pictured) crying inside and found her in a crib just feet from her parent's dead bodies. The girl was unharmed in the altercation, and is now in the custody of Diaz's parents.Hicks' friends said they were shocked to find out what happened to the couple, even as they acknowledged that Diaz and Hicks were having relationship issues after Hicks aborted a pregnancy. She insisted the child was Diaz's, but his family was suspicious of who the baby's father was after she admitted to having an affair.

'She said they were working through it,' a lifelong friend told the New York Post. 'But I think that was an issue among others, and he just went into a rage — a blind rage.' The friends told how Hicks, who was also an aspiring bikini model, met Diaz roughly three years ago when they both worked at the Port St. Lucie School and quickly fell in love. They thought it was a healthy relationship. 'Amanda had been in some bad relationships with really controlling boyfriends,' one friend said. 'But she was so happy with Carlos. They were both really passionate about teaching and kids, they bonded over that.' Things in the relationship moved quickly, Hicks' friends said, with the teacher moving in with Diaz and his parents in a small apartment shortly after they got together.

The couple would sometimes have heated arguments fueled by alcohol, the unnamed sources told the Post, but they thought Hicks had finally found 'Mr. Right.' 'He was the best boyfriend she'd had,' a friend said. 'He treated her very well in public, he was gentle with her. But he had a temper, that was sort of there in the background.' Both Hicks and her fiancée had substance abuse issues and criminal histories. Diaz was charged with battery in 2020 over an incident with his brother at his parents house, according to police records obtained by CBS 12, which state that he even went as far as to threaten to kill his brother. The brother, though, told the news station that it was just a fight that got out of hand, and the charge was eventually dropped. But the following year, Diaz pleaded no contest to another battery charge.

Meanwhile, Hicks was charged twice with driving under the influence and was at one point ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Sources close to the couple said that following the birth of their daughter, Diaz cleaned up some of his drug issues and decided to focus on school, where he was preparing to become a full-time teacher. That all came crumbling down several months ago when Diaz learned Hicks cheated on him. She insisted the incident was trivial, her friends said, but Diaz was furious. In the aftermath, friends noticed that she deleted all of her social media accounts. 'We knew he had a history of being aggressive, so we were worried,' one friend said. 'But she told us they were working through it, that they would be OK.' Instead, the relationship continued to deteriorate, and Hicks would often get drunk — inflaming the already high tensions.

At some point, the couple decided more space was in order and moved into the Peaco*ck Run apartments on Northwest East Torino Parkway, where neighbors said the couple were calm and friendly, and could often be seen doting over their young daughter. Some said there was no outward signs that Hicks and Diaz were having issues, though they noticed that the couple would often alternate between being chatty and oddly reserved.

Meanwhile, a source close to Diaz said, he was thinking of leaving Hicks. 'He wanted full custody of the baby and was trying to sort out how to do that,' the unnamed source said. 'She didn't know, but he was going to separate from her.' Those tensions apparently came to a head on the night of May 26, when a neighbor reported hearing piercing screams. 'We figured it was just a fight, you get a lot of that around here,' one neighbor said. But at 12.47am another resident's Ring doorbell camera captured the sound of a gunshot. That neighbor's friend said he did not think much of it at the time. 'There was so much rain and thunder that night,' the friend said. 'He didn't call police, he wasn't sure what it was.'

Authorities were only alerted later that morning when one of Diaz's family members called police to conduct a welfare check after he did not answer his phone. Hicks' death was later confirmed by the principal of Anderson Middle School, where the beloved sixth-grade teacher.Tributes from friends and family have been pouring in for the teacher ever since, and her brother, Eric (pictured together), is raising money for his sister's funeral. 'Y’all plz help us raise money for my sisters funeral and service and everything,' he wrote.Raquel Magallon, a close friend of Hicks, told WBPF that she was 'an angel' who brought joy to all those who knew her. 'She just lit up the room,' she said. 'She had such a big, beautiful smile. She was always happy and always energetic. She was just an angel. She definitely brightened my day every time I saw her.'

A childhood friend Maria Uphues wrote on Facebook: 'Even though the plan was to grow old and reminiscence about all the highs and lows we've experienced, I am so grateful to have had you in my life for these past 19 years. You were absolutely gorgeous inside and out and this world will never be the same without you… Your creativity was pure art.' Uphues said she was grateful that the baby, Alani, was found unharmed. 'I can't even express my gratefulness for Alani being found unharmed but nothing can ever fully replace having her parents by her side. I love you girl and look forward to embracing you again one day,' she said. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12150423/Friends-man-stabbed-girlfriend-shooting-say-cheated-him.html?ito=msngallery

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