Dallas police have identified a suspect in the home invasion and murder of 24-year-old Juvenal Antero nearly two years after the incident.
Investigators say 26-year-old Arnold Sustaita Zapata is wanted in connection with the 2023 shooting at Antero’s apartment. Zapata, who remains on the loose, is suspected of breaking into the apartment while Antero and his family were home.
On December 30, 2023, Antero was in the apartment with his pregnant wife, Elizabel Cardenas, and his 4-year-old son. Two men knocked on the door of an apartment in Pleasant Grove and asked for a plunger. One of the men then allegedly pulled out a gun before the pair began attempting to force their way inside the unit, The Dallas Express reported following the incident.
While Cardenas was trying to keep the door shut, Antero reportedly grabbed the suspect’s weapon while shielding his young son. Antero was shot in the altercation but managed to protect his family from the intruders.
“Everything was about family to him,” said Cardenas, per WFAA.
Video surveillance footage released by Dallas PD following the shooting showed three men fleeing the scene and entering a red vehicle.
Cardenas says that the news that the police have identified one of the suspects has brought some relief.
“Finally, you know, there’s a face, there’s a name,” she said.
Still, she says she is waiting for justice. All the while, Cadenas is raising her two children without the father, the youngest of whom never had a chance to meet their dad.
“How do you live with yourself knowing that you took someone’s dad away?” she said.