9-Year-Old Dies Following Attack at New Port Richey Home

Sign up for the New Port Richey Patch newsletter.

One of two young girls injured during a Thursday morning attack inside a New Port Richey home has died.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Jenica Randazzo, 9, died at 9:34 a.m. Friday from her injuries.

Randazzo’s uncle, Jason Rios, 24, is accused of going on a rampage inside his parents’ 4720 Catherine St. home, killing his mother, Angela Rios, 55, and injuring his two young nieces, Jenica and La’nyla Heater, 7.

Jason Rios’ father, Ernesto, was in the shower when the attack began, Pasco deputies stated. When he ran out to find out why he heard screams in his home, he found his wife unresponsive and the two girls seriously injured with blunt-force trauma.

Jason, deputies said in an email to media, was in the process of attacking one of his two nephews when his father pushed him out of the home.

Jason Rios is said to have then fled to an unoccupied home nearby where a standoff with Pasco deputies ensued.

See Also:

• 1 Dead, 2 Injured Before New Port Richey Standoff Began

Attempts were made to get Jason Rios to come out of the home, but they were unsuccessful, the sheriff’s office stated. The lack of cooperation forced SWAT to remove a portion of a wall and deploy gas into the home. A short time later, flash-bang devices were set off in the home.

Jason Rios stumbled out of the home at that point, deputies say, but refused to show them his hands. The standoff, however, ended without a shot fired when Rios stumbled and fell into a SWAT vehicle, knocking himself unconscious.

“Jason Rios was found to have self-inflected injuries to his neck from a long drill bit as well as two injures consistent with an auger drill bit to his head and torso,” the email stated.

Both Jason Rios and Heater remain hospitalized, deputies said Friday morning.

Once released from medical care, Jason Rios faces two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Two boys inside the home, Jason Rios’ nephews, Dominic Putnam, 13, and Chancellor Rios, 4, were uninjured.

Photo of Jason Rios courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office