A family is mourning the loss of a husband and father who was gunned down after two people tried to break into his home at an apartment complex in Dallas Saturday afternoon.
The fatal shooting happened on Dec. 30 at about 2:40 p.m. in the 440 block of S. Saint Augustine Drive.
According to the Dallas Police Department, officers responded to the Pleasant Grove area after reports of a shooting. When police arrived at the scene, they found 24-year-old Juvenal Antero suffering from a gunshot wound inside an apartment.
Antero was rushed to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
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Police said investigators learned two people forced their way into Antero's apartment and shot him.
Antero's wife, Elizabel Cardenas, and their 4-year-old son were home at the time of the shooting, and she described the horrific moments that led up to her husband's death.
"It was 2:30 when I answered the door," said Cardenas. "They were knocking. They were asking for help. They were asking for a plunger, I guess, for their toilet or something."
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Cardenas stated she told the person she could not help, and then a second individual showed up.
"He showed me the gun and said for everybody to get on the ground," Cardenas described.
Cardenas said she tried slamming the door shut.
"And he points the gun at my son. My husband jumped in front of my son and took the bullet for my son. My husband was able to fire back, defend our family, defend my son," Cardenas said.
The couple had recently learned they were pregnant with their second child.
"I am 11 weeks pregnant," said Cardenas. "He was very excited to go to my appointment on Wednesday, this Wednesday, to hear the heartbeat and get sonogram photos."
Now, the family prepares for Antero's funeral.
"My son keeps asking me, when is my dad going to be alive again? Things that no child is supposed to witness or supposed to ask. I don't wish this on anyone," said Cardenas. "There are no words that nobody's words can comfort me. You know, the detective didn't let me touch his body, or let me hold his hand. He was evidence."
As of Monday afternoon, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified. The investigation into the fatal shooting is ongoing.
