Fund Set Up To Memorialize 3-Year-Old Killed In Murder-Suicide

TEMPLE TERRACE, FL -- Family and friends of 3-year-old Ela Deniz Friedman Aytes have set up a Go Fund Me page to raise funds for an outdoor memorial for the little girl.

The little girl was killed by her father, 48-year-old Ayhan Aytes, in a murder-suicide. Temple Terrace Police discovered the body of Ela on Dec. 10 when they were asked by Ela's mother to check on the little girl who was staying with her father at his Temple Terrace condominium (see related story).

Ayhan Aytes was a visiting assistant professor at the University of South Florida. He and Ela's mother, USF instructeor Laurel Friedman, had separated in January and had signed a court-approved parenting plan in which they agteed to share custody of Ela.

Friedman became worried when her estranged husband didn't bring Ela back to her Lutz home after a scheduled visit and she was unable to reach him on the phone. She called Temple Terrace Police to check on her daughter.

"Together with the Friedman family, we are raising funds in honor of Ela Deniz Friedman Aytes," said Erica Toothman who set up the Go Fund Me page. "It is the wish of Ela's mother to memorialize her spirit in an outdoor space with a park or park bench, as Ela so loved to walk in nature."

Toothman added that the family would also like to use the funds to help other children of domestic violence.

"Our family is devastated at the loss of our beloved Ela," said Friedman's father, Barry Friedman, in a statement released to the media. "At this point we need time to grieve together and we ask for privacy."

In three days, the fundraising site has raised $21,739.

Image via GoFundMe

Laurel Friedman and Ela

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)