Colleen Sheridan and her son Connor have been identified as the two victims who were killed in a double murder-suicide in Pompano Beach earlier this week.
A welfare check on Wednesday evening led to first responders discovering the bodies of an adult woman and two adult men inside of a home in the 300 block of South Golf Boulevard, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. James Sheridan, 80, is believed to be the shooter, who then killed himself.
St. Coleman Catholic Church announced the deaths of Colleen, 72, and Connor Sheridan in a Facebook post Friday afternoon. Colleen Sheridan was the treasurer at a St. Vincent De Paul and worked as an officer manager for the thrift store in Pompano Beach, according to the church.
Connor would have turned 32 on Friday, Kathy Keleher, a friend of the family, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Without any surviving relatives, the church is collecting donations for their funerals and burials.
“Colleen led a life of service to our church and the community along with Connor by her side,” the church wrote.
Craig Caffro, a former bar owner in Pompano Beach, had been friends with Sheridan for over 40 years after meeting her at a Holiday Inn, where she worked as a bartender, in the ’80’s. He was there when she met James at the same bar. Over time, the two became best friends; he described their relationship as “brother and sister,” always there when the other needed them.
When Caffro’s son was born, Sheridan became his godmother.
“He’s chewed up about it right now,” Caffro said of his son. “He came down here for Spring Break, all of a sudden this happens to him.”
Both Caffro and Sheridan volunteered at animal rescues, the rotary club and Pompano Beach’s “Unity in the Community” event. Sheridan was known throughout the city due to all of her volunteer work, he said.
“She loved everybody,” Caffro said. “This is why it hurts so bad.”
Caffro and Sheridan would talk almost daily throughout their friendship, save for when she had to stay inside for long stretches due to an injury. He said he last spoke to her on Saturday, the day before a birthday party for his ex. When she didn’t answer phone calls or show up at the party, her close friends knew something was wrong.
“She never answered and she always answered,” Caffro said.
Keleher had been communicating with Sheridan a couple days before the Sunday party, which Keleher said her friend had “all intents and purposes” on attending.
“She didn’t answer my texts and she didn’t answer my phone call, but I just really didn’t think this because I figured if something was really wrong with her, that Connor would call me,” Keleher said. “Because Connor always called or texted me … I never would have thought this.”
Keleher said it was someone from Sheridan’s job that called deputies for the welfare check after she didn’t come in to work.
Deputies who went to the family’s home Wednesday evening noticed two cars parked in the driveway and the mailbox overflowing, according to the Sheriff’s Office. No one answered the door when they knocked. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue helped deputies force their way into the home, where they found the three dead from gunshot wounds.
There were no signs of violence or trouble with the family leading up to the deaths, Keleher said. Connor had been living with his parents to help out, as his mother had a history of health issues and had been in-and-out of the hospital.
“James was kind of a very individual person, but he loved Colleen and he loved Connor … There wasn’t anything that was ever seen or anything by anyone … This is, it’s hard to understand. I don’t understand,” she said.
Connor was working in real estate in order to have a more flexible job so he could better take care of his mother, Keleher said. He had “always been that kind of young person that wanted to make sure his parents were OK,” she said.
Women in Keleher and Sheridan’s tight-knit friend group have sons whose birthdays are within the same week, she said. Sheridan had been a friend of Keleher and the group since their sons were in pre-kindergarten and remained close decades later.
She described Colleen as “an angel on earth,” an adventurous person who always sought to take care of her friends and family, someone with a “pure heart.”
“She was a fierce friend, and a light has definitely dimmed on this earth because she’s gone,” she said.