ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man is locked behind bars on a second-degree murder charge after the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said he shot and stabbed his adult niece to death while her daughter was present.

Deputies responded to a home along Pale Horse Drive in reference to a disturbance call just before 8 a.m. Monday, and when they arrived on scene, they were met with Salah Hamlette, 30, who stated he was involved in a physical altercation with the victim, who was a family member, according to a news release.

When deputies entered the home, they said they located a deceased female who appeared to have been stabbed in the chest and shot in the neck.

The victim was identified as 34-year-old Porche Abraham, and investigators determined she was Hamlette’s niece.

Deputies later interviewed Abraham’s daughter who was home at the time of the violence.

Abraham’s daughter told investigators she was sleeping on a sofa when she awoken “because mommy and uncle were fighting with their words and hands,” according to an arrest report. The child told investigators she saw her uncle stab her mother in the chest multiple times.

According to an arrest report, Hamlette is being charged with second-degree murder, and child abuse for exposing the victim’s daughter to violence leading to murder.

Hamlette was taken to the Orange County Jail where he is being held without bond.