Daughter Of Beloved Maintenance Man Fatally Shot By Would-Be Robber Shares Her Grief
SHERMAN OAKS (CBSLA) -- The daughter of a beloved maintenance man who was gunned down in cold blood by a would-be robber, is speaking out Wednesday evening.
Police said they tried to arrest the murder suspect and would-be robber this morning but they shot and killed him as they moved in to arrest him.
CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Tom Wait spoke to the maintenance man's daughter.
As she shared her grief and her emotions, new details emerged about the suspect who killed her father.
Late this evening detectives continued their investigation in the wake of a deadly officer involved shooting.
The suspect was captured on security video allegedly robbing a nearby liquor store last night
Police say he's also the man who murdered Antonio Centeno -- the maintenance man -- on Monday. Authorities said the suspect terrorized the Sherman Oaks neighborhood.
"We just wanted him to get arrested. We looked for justice. We had questions," says Betzabeth Centeno.
She says her father was shot and killed at the same building where he worked maintenance during what appeared to be a botched robbery. Police say the suspect lived just a few blocks away.
"He went on the side of the apartment building to talk on the phone and then people started hearing gunshots all over. Honestly, my dad never really carried money, so we're not sure if he just got mad because my dad didn't have money and started shooting," Centeno says.
Police were tracking the suspect this morning and were moving in to arrest him at Burbank and Kester when the shooting happened. Police say the suspect was armed.
The suspect's death does little to help heal a family devastated by Antonio's loss. Betzabeth says she and her mother are crushed. She is especially concerned about her mom.
"It's almost like why? Why kill him? Why not just rob him? let him go. He leaves behind, it's only her and I. We don't have anyone else in this country. We're left behind with no one to help her. She doesn't work," Betzabeth says.
She is now facing a future without her father, and the memories she planned to make with him.
"Him walking me down the aisle. That's not going to happen any more. There's nothing we can do but to keep on going," she says.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family to help cover the cost of funeral expenses.