A Texas father is being hailed a hero after he reportedly sacrificed his life to save his young son and pregnant wife. During an alleged home invasion in the family's apartment in Pleasant Grove, Texas, on December 30, Juvenal Antero, 24, attempted to shield his family from the attackers and ended up with a fatal gunshot wound.
His wife, Elizabel Cardenas, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA she is trying to stay strong for the couple's 4-year-old son and unborn child, but she is having a hard time comprehending that the love of her life is gone.
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Two people allegedly came to the family's door asking for help.
Cardenas told NBC DFW that she and her husband were in their apartment on South St. Augustine Drive with their young son when they heard a knock on the door around 2:30 p.m. Two people were asking for a plunger. The innocent request reportedly turned sinister, however, when they allegedly forced their way into the apartment, one brandishing a weapon.
"He showed me the gun and said for everybody to get on the ground," Cardenas told the news outlet.
The couple reportedly tried to stop the intruders.
The grieving wife recalled the struggle to WFFA. "I'm slamming the door on his hand, and I'm holding the door with all the strength that I could pull," Cardenas said. "My husband grabbed his weapon and jumped in front of my son and protected my son. They started shooting him."
She said Antero told her he was hit and said he didn't want to die. Tragically, his wounds were fatal because he died at the hospital.
Antero was a doting husband and father.
Cardenas said that family meant everything to her husband, and they were looking forward to having another baby together.
"We were supposed to go hear the heart," said Cardenas, who is 11 weeks pregnant. "I've suffered two miscarriages. We've been trying for these couple of years. It finally happened … I have to welcome this new baby into the world without a father."
She added that their son saw his father die and now has nightmares.
The father's death shocked his family.
Estella Ramirez, Antero's mother-in-law, wrote about her grief on Facebook. She asked that anyone with information please come forward.
"I wanna give a big thanks to everyone who has been sharing my posts about my son in law me and my daughter and the rest of family really appreciate it we just want justice for my grandson and unborn child he didn't deserve this and my grandson and his wife didn't either so pls just keep them in prayers and please keep sharing someone come forward pls," she wrote.
Friends shared love and support. "So Sorry Friend Shared Pray whoever then this gets caught," someone commented.
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Loved ones are raising money for the young family.
Cardenas asked for help to give her husband a proper burial.
"He was an amazing husband, father, son, and brother. A loving and caring person whose life unfortunately was taken away from him in the blink of an eye," she wrote on a GoFundMe page. "Everything and anything will help, we have a four year old son and a new baby on the way I'm very devastated with all of this services have not been made yet." The account has raised more than $400 of its $6,000 goal thus far.
The suspects are still at large. According to the Dallas Police Department, they left the scene. No one has been identified.
