Larisa Blyudaya did a favor for a friend. Her family paid a devastating price for her kindness.<\/p>\n
Blyudaya, 46, and her son, Ben Azizov, 19, were shot and killed in the Victoria Park neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, their bodies discovered Tuesday after police responded to a \u201cwellness check\u201d at their apartment. The tragedy of their deaths multiplied in Sarasota<\/a>, where Russell Kot, believed to be the shooter, found and murdered three other members of Blyudaya\u2019s family: her mother, Florita Stolyar, 66, stepfather Anatoly Ioffe, 61, and brother Yaroslav \u201cStan\u201d Blyudoy, 39.<\/p>\n A sixth victim was also found Tuesday at the Sarasota crime scene: Olga Greinert, 49, a family friend who happened to be there at the time Kot, 51, arrived.<\/p>\n According to the Sarasota County Sheriff\u2019s Office, deputies were directed to a home in a gated community in the city by a 911 call. They found a wounded Ioffe in the front yard. He was taken to a hospital where he later died. Inside the house, deputies found the other victims, including Kot, who evidently shot himself.<\/p>\n \u201cBlyudaya allowed Kot to stay in her residence as a guest temporarily while he looked for a permanent place to stay in Florida,\u201d said Seth Ginsberg, an attorney representing surviving members of Blyudaya\u2019s family. He refuted earlier reports indicating a romantic relationship between Kot and Blyudaya. \u201cHe was only to live there until her son, Ben, came to live with her in January. Larisa and Kot were not romantically involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Ginsberg said he had no knowledge of what motivated Kot to kill anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the family understands the public\u2019s interest in what led to these events,\u201d he said, \u201cat this point the reasons that Kot committed these unspeakable acts is of little relevance to them. As friends and family, our only concern is the welfare of the surviving family as they try to move forward and heal.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends of the family started a GoFundMe page identifying the victims and asking for help with the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n