There are currently more questions than answers surrounding the inexplicable murder of a 57-year-old father who unfortunately ended up in harm’s way while sitting on an old refrigerator inside his yard this past Saturday night at about 10:00 p.m.
Police report that they visited the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital sometime after 10:00 p.m. on the night of April 12, where they saw Alfonzo Cruz, 57, a resident of #2 Rhaburn’s Alley, with an apparent gunshot wound to the left side of the chest and the left lower back.
According to police, their initial investigations revealed that Cruz was with his friends at his home in the alley when a lone gunman, who was riding a bicycle, approached and fired several times at Cruz.
Cruz’s family, however, told Amandala that Cruz was sitting alone in the confines of his property when he was murdered for no apparent reason.
His niece, Tracey Usher, told us that she was at her home when she received the terrible news. She said, “They called me and told me that my uncle died, but as far as I know, I understand that a passerby just rode by and shot him in his chest when he was sitting on a refridge at about 10:15 p.m.”
Usher explained that the sudden death of Cruz, who was popularly known as “Pow”, has left the family not only in shock and disbelief, but also at a loss as to what could have possibly been the motive, especially since they have not yet heard anything from the investigators.
“We haven’t heard anything yet from the police. I guess they are doing their investigations, so we are stuck; we don’t know what to think or what to believe, because we haven’t gotten any information as yet”, stated Usher.
“Pow” is described as having been a very humble and hard-working individual who was not known to be a troublemaker and often kept to himself.
Usher declared, “He was a very happy, loving person, who was peaceful and humble; for sure he wasn’t a violent man or an angry person, so for that to happen to him, we are all in disbelief. He’s not the type of person who would do something that would require someone to retaliate at him that kind of way, and just shot him in the chest for no reason.”
Cruz was a heavy duty machinery operator who worked mostly in the districts, and we understand that he has a wife and one daughter who are both grieving his death.
According to Usher, her uncle was a jovial person with whom she spoke regularly, and who often encouraged her to be a strong person in life.
“It’s just unfortunate that they took away our family member just like that, especially since we know that he is not someone that gives trouble”, his niece remarked.
When asked what her message to the perpetrator was, Usher simply said, “I leave judgment up to God; there’s a thing called karma, and that will be coming back to them one of these days.”
Although we understand that there are no leads in the investigation as yet, police said they are working on establishing a motive for the crime.