Florida Couple Ambushed at Home After Hitting Jackpot During Casino Date Night

A Florida couple saw their lucky date at the casino turn to horror after two men allegedly ambushed them at their home later that night.

Kim Chambliss and her boyfriend, Val Delacruz, say they won about $3,000 after hitting a jackpot at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Thursday, August 1.

Both Victims Shot Before Neighbors Drive Attackers Away

The couple went out for dinner and drinks before heading to the casino and scoring their big win.

“I hit and I got a jackpot. And, you know, I was dancing,” Delacruz told FOX 13 Tampa Bay.

Unbeknownst to the couple, however, they were being watched the entire time. When they returned home later that night, two masked men and armed men surrounded their car and demanded money.

The two men shot Delacruz in both of his legs, while Chambliss was shot in her calf.

“I hear another gunshot and my first thought was ‘they’ve killed him,’” Chambliss told FOX 13. “I was hysterical; I screamed and cried.”

Delacruz pleaded with the suspects until a neighbor heard the incident, came outside, and caused the two men to flee in their car.

Incredibly, much of the incident was caught on the Ring doorbell camera at the home. Screams and gunshots can be heard in the background, the suspects can be heard demanding “money,” and Delacruz can be seen on the ground pleading with two men carrying guns before one suspect covers the camera.

Two Men Arrested by Authorities, Third Suspect

Investigators from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office later arrested suspects Marcus Jenkins and Tristan Wright in connection with the incident. Jenkins faces charges including first degree murder, while Wright, who investigators allege was the driver, faces charges including principal to attempted murder. Affidavits from the arrest say that the suspects followed the couple throughout the casino before following them to their home.

HCSO investigators say they are still working to identify a third suspect.

The attack has left Delacruz unable to walk and in what he says is unbearable pain. He was unable to walk his son to his first day of second grade, and doctors say it could be six months before he can walk again.

The couple says that responding sheriff’s deputies saved Delacruz’s life by applying a tourniquet to his right leg.

“I lost so much blood,” Delacruz said. “If they didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have made it.”

For the couple, the incident came as a shocking surprise after an evening that was supposed to be their monthly night out.

“We’re just average people, you know, who are out having a good time, you know, who love each other and enjoy each other’s company,” Chambliss told FOX 13. “And to know that we didn’t even realize that people were following us every step of the way. It’s scary.”

While casinos typically have significant security on site, ambushes aren’t unheard of. Earlier this year, hip-hop artist LilDon Williams, known in the music industry as Young Block, was shot and killed in what appeared to be a planned ambush at Caesars Southern Indiana Hotel & Casino in Elizabeth. Williams was 32.