Left inset: Arnold Sustaita Zapata (Dallas Police Department). Right inset: Juvenal Antero (GoFundMe). Background: The Dallas apartment where Arnold Sustaita Zapata allegedly shot and killed Juvenal Antero during a home invasion (WFAA/YouTube).
Police in Texas are on the hunt for a man who allegedly gunned down a Dallas father in front of his 4-year-old son and pregnant wife, with cops saying the dad tried to protect them during a home invasion committed by the suspect and two others.
"I don't want to die," exclaimed victim Juvenal Antero after being fatally wounded by Arnold Sustaita Zapata and his alleged cohorts during a December 2023 shooting at Antero's apartment, according to his wife Elizabel Cardenas, who recounted Antero's final moments to local ABC affiliate WFAA. "They hit me. They hit me. I'm going to die," Antero reportedly said.
The Dallas Police Department announced Sunday that Zapata, 26, was recently identified as a suspect and is being hunted for capital murder. Two other alleged assailants are also being sought but have not yet been identified, according to cops.
"It's troubling because this happened inside his own residence in front of his wife and kid," Detective Michael Christian told local Fox affiliate KDFW. "I need help identifying and bringing justice to this family."
Dallas Police are asking for the public's help to locate Arnold Sustaita Zapata. He is wanted for a murder that occurred on December 30, 2023, in the 440 block of south St. Augustine Drive.
Contact Crime Stoppers at 214-373-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers will pay for information… pic.twitter.com/XtfUsPQ5NZ
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) October 26, 2025
Police officials said in a press release that officers were dispatched to Antero and Cardenas' Dallas apartment around 2:40 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2023, in the Pleasant Grove area on the city's east side. Cops arrived to find Antero shot after two men tried barging into the home. Antero had tried to defend his family with his own gun.
Cardenas described the ordeal to multiple media outlets after the shooting. She said the family was inside the apartment when she heard a knock, so she went to answer the door and encountered two men.
"They were asking for help," Cardenas told WFAA in January 2024. "They were wanting a plunger."
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As Cardenas went to answer the door, she said, the men forced their way inside, with one of them allegedly being armed.
"He points the gun at my son," Cardenas told NBC affiliate KXAS.
"My husband jumped in front of my son and took the bullet for my son," she recounted. "My husband was able to fire back, defend our family, defend my son."
Antero was transported to the hospital by first responders, where he died. Cardenas said the shooting happened while she was pregnant with their second child.
"I've suffered two miscarriages," Cardenas told WFAA.
"We've been trying for these couple of years. It finally happened," she said. "I have to welcome this new baby into the world without a father."
Speaking to KXAS in January 2024, Cardenas told the outlet, "My son keeps asking me, when is my dad going to be alive again? Things that no child is supposed to witness or supposed to ask. I don't wish this on anyone."
