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Man Murdered in Front of 2-Year-Old Daughter While Protecting Her From Carjackers
A family’s life was forever changed on Sept. 7 when two would-be carjackers shot a Philadelphia father in front of his young daughter. According to 6ABC, Gerald Grandzol had just returned from a trip to the park with his two-year-old child when two men dressed in black approached his SUV.
After the 38-year-old handed over his wallet, the suspects demanded he give up the keys to his car. But when he told them that his toddler was still in the vehicle, one of the robbers shot him in the head at point-blank range. Police were able to piece together the murder thanks to a home surveillance system.
Surveillance footage of the suspects from the night of the murder.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector James Kelly told 6ABC it’s “one of the most disturbing videos” he’s seen during his almost 29-year career. Grandzol was also dad to a six-week-old daughter with his wife Kristin.
Multiple outlets have reported that brothers Maurice, 21, and Marvin Roberts, 16, were arrested for the fatal shooting. Marvin will be tried as an adult because he’s allegedly the one who pulled the trigger.
Marvin Roberts, 16, who’s accused of pulling the trigger in the deadly shooting.
Grandzol’s widow told KYW Newsradio, “This is just not fair that this is how he died. He was just the best father to our two girls that you could even imagine. He was welcoming to everyone in the neighborhood. Everybody loved him and he was just the best. Those two gunshots just destroyed my life and my two daughters don’t have a father now. I have a six-week-old daughter and a two-and-a-half-year-old who saw the whole thing and I don’t know if she’ll ever be right.”
Neighbor Naomi Fernald said, “It could have been me, could have been my husband, any one of us and we don’t know how to feel. I’m shocked. Something like this was never ever anything that any of us were ever concerned about or thought about.”
A memorial fund has been set up on GoFundMe to help provide for his wife and children, and so far, it’s raised $235,613 of it’s $500,000 goal. Our thoughts are with his family as they grieve this unimaginable loss.
