On April 15, 1984, 14-year-old Betsy Bermudez was one of ten people shot to death inside a Brooklyn apartment at 1080 Liberty Avenue in an attack that came to be called the Palm Sunday Massacre. Victims included two women, two teenage girls and six children; most had been shot at close range, many in the head, and were found in relaxed poses that suggested they were taken by surprise. A 10-year-old sister, Marelyn, was among the dead; an infant girl in the apartment survived, found crawling among the victims.

The apartment belonged to Enrique Bermudez, a convicted cocaine dealer, and investigators initially explored links to the drug trade. Authorities later concluded the motive was jealous rage: Christopher Thomas believed his estranged wife was having an affair with Enrique Bermudez. High on cocaine, Thomas went to the residence looking for Enrique, and when Enrique was not there he shot the occupants. Neighbors placed Thomas at the scene and his wife said he owned a gun matching the caliber used. Thomas was charged with ten counts of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon; a 1985 jury found him guilty of intentional murder but reduced the counts to first-degree manslaughter because of extreme emotional disturbance and heavy cocaine use, and he received a sentence capped at 50 years.