Hero father is shot dead in front of his pregnant wife after jumping in front of his four-year-old son when armed burglars who had scammed their way into their home started shooting
- The two robbers tried to gain access to the house by pretending to need a plunger. When they were rebuffed, they opened fire and killed 24-year-old father Juvenel Antero.
A pregnant mother, who will receive ultrasound images of her new baby this week, is instead preparing for her husband's funeral after he was shot dead while protecting his young family from a pair of opportunistic robbers.
According to Dallas police, 24-year-old Juvenal Antero was shot and killed in his home on the afternoon of December 30.
His wife Elizabeth told it NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that she had opened the door moments earlier when a man knocked looking for a plunger for his toilet. The tragic incident occurred in the Pleasant Grove section of Dallas.
When she rebuffed him, another man came forward with a gun and told her and her son, 4, to get down on the ground.
Elizabel tried to close the door, but the armed man shot her son, prompting Juvenal to dive in front of him and save his child's life.
'My son keeps asking me: when will my father be alive again? Things no child should see or ask for. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. There are no words that anyone can comfort me with. You know, the detective wouldn't let me touch his body or hold his hand. He was evidence,” Elizabel told the station.
A heartbroken Elizabel Antero describes the trauma of losing her husband to gun violence just weeks after learning she was pregnant with their second child
Juvenal Antero, 24, was killed when he ducked a bullet headed for his young son, 4
My son keeps asking me: when will my father be alive again? Things no child should see or ask for. I wouldn't wish this on anyone,” Elizabel told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
The family's home, pictured here in the Pleasant Grove section of Dallas
Elizabel went on to reveal that she is eleven weeks pregnant and described her husband's excitement over the news.
“He was very excited to go to my appointment on Wednesday, this Wednesday, to hear the heartbeat and get ultrasound pictures,” she said.
In a separate interview with WFAA, Elizabel said her late husband “guided” her through everything.
'My son needs me to be strong. My unborn child needs me to be strong. It's hard for me not having him here because he has guided me through everything. He had a heart of gold,” the heartbroken mother and wife said.
In that interview she described her husband's last words. “He said, 'They beat me. They beat me. I'm dying. I don't want to die here.' We were his everything. We were the only thing that mattered to him,” she added.
Elizabel further told the channel that this pregnancy was so special because she had had two miscarriages and that the couple had been trying to have a second child for years.
'I've had two miscarriages. We've been trying for a few years. The time has finally come… I have to welcome this new baby into the world without a father.”
At the time of writing, no arrests have been made in the case. As the investigation continues, both suspects fled after the gunfire.
“I just want you to turn yourselves in because what you did was wrong. No one's life should be taken because you wanted what we had. You'll never have what we had, or what we still have. You will never take his place,” Elizabel told WFAA.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call Detective Michael Christian at 214-670-4735 or michael.christian@dallaspolice.gov.