Detectives now say the deaths of a married Miami Gardens couple in a May 7 house fire were the result of a murder-suicide, adding a heartbreaking turn to a tragedy that has left family members searching for answers.
Couple, beloved pets perish fire
Rhonda Spencer, a 65-year-old supervisor with the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department and her husband of 20 years, Timothy Fordham, 59, died in the fire that engulfed their home near Hard Rock Stadium at Northwest 20th Avenue and 185th Terrace around 3:30 a.m.
The couple’s beloved dogs, a male and female poodle aged 4 and 5, also perished in the flames.
The sole survivor, their nephew Tamonjamin Williams, said the ceiling collapsed on him during the fire.
He recounted that a neighbor told him he was found on the roof, though he’s unsure how he got there.
Williams said he called out for his aunt and uncle but could not find them in the chaos.
Witness accounts add to mystery
One neighbor told CBS News Miami that he reported hearing gunshots to Miami Gardens police before the blaze erupted.
Roberts said neighbors also described a series of loud, strange noises just before the fire.
“Neighbors heard like a pop, then they heard a first explosion, and after that explosion they heard another pop and a big explosion,” she said. “We don’t know what that pop was.”
A sister’s grief and a legacy of kindness
CBS News Miami spoke with Rhonda Spencer’s sister, Levaris Roberts, who expressed her deep sorrow over the incident.
Roberts remembered her sister as a woman of deep compassion and generosity.
“That’s my sister,” she said. “She helped everybody. This girl, if she saw somebody who needed help, she would give them help. She would go to church all day and stay in church. She never let our mom and dad stay in a nursing home because she wanted to take care of them at home.”
