ALPHARETTA, Ga. — It was Thursday, March 10 around 4:30 a.m. Juventino Cruz woke up to gunshot noises just outside his bedroom door in his Alpharetta home.
He could hear 35-year-old Ivan Cordero, who lived with him and his family, talking about a gun. Juventino then opened his bedroom door and sees Ivan get shot right in the head.
The gunman then locked eyes with Juventino, who quickly shut his bedroom door, grabbed his young child, pushed his bed on the door, and went inside his bathroom.
In that moment, Juventino said the gunman then went into his son's room.
"My son was in the closet, dialing 911 and he pulled him out of there and shot him two or three times... once in the neck. I don't know where else because I didn't have enough time to see my son," Juventino told 11Alive in a Spanish interview that has since been translated to English.
His son was 21-year-old Geovani Cruz.
"He was my first son. He was happy, he loved having fun, he would never get in problems with anyone. He was responsible, he worked, helped his mom. He was always positive in life. He had many dreams," Juventino added.
While hiding in the bathroom, Juventino dialed 911 and asked for help. During that moment, Geovani's uncle, a 17-year-old, walked into the bathroom Juventino was in, with a bleeding foot.
While his injuries ended up being non-life-threatening, family members said he will need physical therapy and possible future surgeries.
"He had been shot in the foot," Juventino said. "While the man shot him in the foot, he said, 'No one messes with me,' and shot him in the foot."
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office arrived around 5 a.m., and by then, the 34-year-old suspect was gone.
He was arrested before 6 p.m. Friday in Roswell with the help of local authorities there.
"We were really glad... we hugged, we cried, we were grateful," Juventino added. "My son said one time that he would give his life for his mother."
That's what Geovani did. Juventino explains that the suspect had a daughter with Juventino's ex-wife, who also lived in the home off Tidwell Circle.
"He had a child with my children's mother -- I had already split with her 7 years ago," he said. "She suffered from domestic violence and came to live with us and so my son kept saying, 'This is my mom, I have to support my mom.' We thought he had fixed things with him because he would come, they would give him their child and my son would take care of his daughter."
Police and family members said the suspect had broken into the home a month ago. Law enforcement said the Norcross man had multiple active warrants for his arrest, including home invasion, aggravated assault and cruelty to children.
"He had been to the house before to threaten us -- that he was going to kill us," Juventino recalled. "He did beat up the mother of my kids... he hit her badly. We told the cops to look for him. They would take care of us but we never thought this would come during the morning."
The family wants to send both bodies back to Mexico, where both Geovani and Ivan were originally from. They've been in contact with the Consulate General of Mexico in Atlanta, which they said is helping them, in part, with that procedure.
In the meantime, they have set up fundraisers. To donate, click here.
