Lourdes Maria Beltre Truax

Lourdes Maria Beltre Truax, a 48-year-old Black woman, was remembered by friends and family as a sweet and bubbly person who was a devoted daughter, sister, and mother. Those who knew her were stunned by her sudden death, with one friend writing, “To know is to love her.” Originally from the Dominican Republic where she attended school, Lourdes was a housewife living in Orlando, Florida, at the time of her death.

On the afternoon of July 13, 2023, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office received calls reporting gunshots in an east Orange County neighborhood. Deputies responded to a home on the 2600 block of Northampton Avenue, located inside the gated Stoneybrook East community where Lourdes lived with her husband.

Upon entering the residence, deputies discovered the bodies of Lourdes and her husband, 74-year-old James Anthony Truax. Both had died from gunshot wounds.

Investigators determined that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide. The sheriff’s office stated their belief that James Anthony Truax shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. Because the couple was married and living together, authorities classified the case as an act of domestic violence and assured the public there was no further danger. With the primary suspect deceased, the investigation was closed as of July 2023.