The daughter of a woman who was shot to death less than an hour after she went to the Boynton Beach police station seeking protection from her ex-boyfriend is suing the city.
Fridelene Daniel, 34, arrived at the police station on Nov. 8, 2023, telling officers that her ex-boyfriend, Robens Cesar, was going to kill her, according to the complaint and a probable cause affidavit. Cesar, who was stalking her, followed her into the station. But instead of separating the two, investigating Cesar or offering Daniel further protection, a police officer spoke to her for only a short time, made fun of her Haitian accent, and then let her leave with Cesar still following her, the complaint alleges.
Within an hour, Cesar had shot Daniel dead, according to police. He is facing first-degree murder charges.
Robens Cesar was arrested on Nov. 8, 2023, on one count of first-degree murder. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy)
Daniel’s daughter, Abigail Orelien, now 18, filed the wrongful death lawsuit Thursday, close to the two-year anniversary of her mother’s death.
“Fridelene was a strong and proud woman, who came to this country, built a life of purpose, became a U.S. citizen, and raised her daughter on her own,” Orelien’s attorney, Gary Susser, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “She achieved much through perseverance and integrity, yet her life was tragically and brutally cut short despite her efforts to seek protection from the harm she had, moments before, foretold.”
On the morning of Nov. 8, Daniel was driving her daughter, who was 16 at the time, to school when she noticed Cesar stalking her, Susser said, so she headed to the police station about 8 a.m. Cesar then followed her into the lobby, according to the complaint.
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In the lobby, with Cesar only a few feet away, Daniel told the receptionist that he was stalking her and that he was going to kill her, according to the complaint, based on footage of the interaction. At that point, Boynton Beach police officers Jermaine Jones and Mark Rendel came into the lobby, the complaint states. Rendel was in training at the time, according to Susser.
Daniel told them that Cesar was her ex-boyfriend, that he had been stalking her, showing up at her apartment and calling her incessantly, that he owned a gun and that he would “make (her) die,” according to the complaint. The brief interview took place in the lobby, in front of Cesar.
While Daniel was talking to Jones, he mocked her English, including her pronunciation of the word “gun,” the complaint states, as well as “used inappropriate and unprofessional language, and made other inappropriate comments.”
Jones failed to separate Daniel and Cesar or conduct separate interviews, to recognize the crime of stalking was in progress, to perform a background check on Cesar, to ask him whether he had a gun, to have Daniel speak with a victim advocate or tell her about resources for domestic violence victims, the complaint said. He did not ask for a supervisor.
He then “summarily dismissed” Daniel, telling her to contact the police if Cesar returned to her apartment uninvited. Cesar then followed Daniel into the parking lot, with no police officers escorting Daniel to her car. Cesar then followed Daniel back to her apartment complex a little before 9 a.m., where he confronted her and shot her multiple times, killing her, the complaint says.
After his arrest, Cesar told police that he couldn’t bear seeing Daniel with another man and that the “final straw” was her reporting him to police earlier that morning, according to a probable cause affidavit.
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Jones had a recent history of disciplinary issues. He had been reprimanded in April 2023, only months prior to his encounter with Daniel, after he was “determined to have been found to be performing below standards or otherwise in an unsatisfactory manner,” according to a personnel history provided in the complaint. In 2017, he had been suspended for two days after violating “Abuse of Process” and “Unsatisfactory Performance” rules. In 2014, he was suspended for two days over his use of force on a 13-year-old boy, which he failed to document on the correct form, according to Boynton Beach Police.
Jones later said that he “coded out” the interaction with Daniel as a domestic disturbance when he had actually coded it as a general disturbance, according to the complaint. After her death, Boynton Beach Police disciplined Jones with 100 hours unpaid suspension and additional training.
Susser did not provide an amount in damages that he is seeking.
“What value do you put on a life like that?” he said. “It should never have happened.”
Spokespeople for the City of Boynton Beach and Boynton Beach Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
“Fridelene Daniel’s murder at the hands of an ex-boyfriend is a tragic example of domestic violence at its worst,” Police Chief Joseph DeGuilio told reporters in a statement at the time. “The actions of Officer Jones do not reflect the policing standards of the Boynton Beach Police Department.”
