Jean Dominique Foureau: The Coconut Creek Murder-Suicide

In the early morning of January 3, 2026, emergency medicine physician Jean Dominique Foureau fatally shot his partner, Veloudre Petitval, inside their Coconut Creek townhome and then killed himself, in what police have described as a murder-suicide. The Coconut Creek shooting left two children behind, including the couple’s two-year-old son, who was carried out of the home by Petitval’s teenage son during the attack.

What Happened on Acadian Trail

Around 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 3, neighbors in the 4800 block of Acadian Trail in the Paloma Lakes neighborhood reported hearing screaming followed by gunshots.¹ Coconut Creek police and SWAT surrounded the home and spent hours calling Foureau by name, urging him to come out.²

When no one responded, officers deployed a flash-bang device and breached the residence. They found Foureau, 34, and Petitval, 38, dead inside. Investigators concluded Foureau had shot Petitval before turning the gun on himself. Police spokesperson Scott Leamon said investigators were “not looking anywhere else.”³ Days later, a shattered glass door, bullet holes, and shell casings from flash-bangs still marked the entrance.¹

What the Teenage Son Witnessed

Petitval’s 15-year-old son was inside the home that night. According to police reports, he woke sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. to his mother and Foureau arguing. Petitval came into his room and told him to pack his things because they were leaving.⁴

While he packed, the yelling moved to the master bedroom and his two-year-old brother started crying. He went in and saw his mother on the floor holding the toddler as Foureau tried to pull the child away. The toddler was dropped during the struggle and hit his head. The teen grabbed his little brother and brought him back to his own room. When he returned to check on his mother, Foureau was standing behind the bedroom door, blocking the way in. Through the closed door, the teen heard his mother say, “Put the gun away. Put the gun away. Please don’t.” He then heard a clicking sound and a single gunshot. He fled the house with the toddler through the front door.⁴

Both children survived. They were placed with other family members after the shooting.¹

Who Jean Dominique Foureau Was

Foureau, 34, was an emergency medicine physician and a part-time battalion surgeon with the Florida Army National Guard.⁵ He grew up in Pompano Beach, graduated from Deerfield Beach High School, and was the first physician in his family in the United States.⁶ He served in the U.S. Army as a medic before medical school, attended Florida State University, and completed his medical degree at the American University of the Caribbean, followed by clinical rotations with Jackson Health in Miami.⁷

He completed his emergency medicine residency at Broward Health, serving as chief resident, and finished training in 2024.⁸ After the shooting, Broward Health said Foureau “completed a portion of his medical training within our health system” and had “no affiliation with our organization since then.”² Neighbors identified him as a traveling doctor at the time of the shooting.¹

Who Veloudre Petitval Was

Veloudre L. Petitval was born on August 11, 1987, and was 38 years old at her death. She lived in the Coconut Creek home with Foureau, their toddler, and her older son from a previous relationship.¹

A visitation was held on January 16, 2026, at Elijah Bells Funeral Home in Lauderdale Lakes, followed by a funeral the next day at Redemption Baptist Church in Pompano Beach and burial at Delray Beach Memorial Gardens Cemetery.⁹ Her family asked for support for her two sons as they moved through what the obituary called “a season of transition.” Online tributes described Petitval as a “beautiful woman.”¹⁰

No Warning Signs for Neighbors

People who lived near the family in Paloma Lakes said they had seen nothing to suggest violence. Residents described the couple as “kind,” said there had been “no signs of any trouble,” and recalled seeing them together over the holidays.¹ Neighbor Carlos Lainez said he saw “a whole row of cops on this entire street,” and Johnny Madriz said he heard officers calling Foureau’s name and telling him to come out. Residents said they were shaken, “mainly for the little ones.”²

How This Fits Florida’s Murder-Suicide Pattern

The Coconut Creek shooting lines up with a pattern the Violence Policy Center has documented for years. Between January and June 2025, Florida recorded 16 murder-suicide events that killed 35 people, placing the state third in the country behind Texas and Georgia.¹¹ The Center has found that 65 percent of U.S. murder-suicides involve an intimate partner, 99 percent of those victims are female, and 85 percent happen in the home.

Florida law enforcement received more than 106,000 domestic violence reports in 2020, leading to over 63,000 arrests. The state’s Department of Children and Families has said those numbers likely undercount the real scope, because many survivors are kept from reporting by fear, shame, or their abusers.¹² If you or someone you know is in danger, Florida’s 41 certified domestic violence centers operate a 24-hour crisis hotline network that fielded more than 74,000 calls in the 2024–2025 fiscal year.¹³

1
NBC Miami. Video Shows SWAT at Coconut Creek Home of Doctor and Woman Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide
2
Local 10 News. Video Shows Moments Cops Respond to Murder-Suicide Involving Doctor in Coconut Creek
3
Miami Herald. Doctor and Woman Found Dead in Coconut Creek Murder-Suicide
4
TAPinto Coconut Creek. Teen Witness Describes Fight Before Coconut Creek Murder-Suicide, Police Reports Show
5
NBC Miami. Doctor and Woman Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide in Coconut Creek
6
WLRN. Broward Health Wants to Help More Black Students Pursue Medical Careers
7
CBS News Miami. Miami Proud: Front Lines of the Pandemic, Broward Health Doctor Jean Dominique Foureau
8
TAPinto Coconut Creek. Police: ER Doctor in Coconut Creek Murder-Suicide Shared Toddler With Victim
9
Bell’s Funeral Services. Veloudre L. Petitval Obituary
10
Legacy.com. Veloudre Petitval Memorial
11
Violence Policy Center. American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States
12
Florida Department of Children and Families. Domestic Violence Statistics
13
Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Statistics