SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man was vacationing in Colombia when he was gunned down by a robber and now, the family wants justice.
The family has been left heartbroken and in mourning after they said their loved one, Juan Pablo Cardona, was killed in a robbery while he visited Medellín, Colombia, in August.
“He was just amazing. That’s all I can call him — amazing,” said the victim’s aunt Esperanza Cardona, “amazing, because he was.”
His family said Cardona went out to purchase liquor with a friend.
At some point while they were out, a pair of thieves tried to steal his friend’s purse.
When Cardona stepped in to fight them off his family said he was shot in the chest.
His sister, Paula Castillo, got the devastating phone call.
“It happened around 8 o’clock over there. They found out at 7 in the morning over here,” she said. “His friend called me. His friend went to the airport and called me and told me what happened.”
The family is now demanding justice.
“He was a very spiritual person. He was always about love and peace and everybody gathering together,” Castillo said. “Just positive vibes all the time.”
They’re pleading with the U.S. and Colombian authorities to speed up the investigation and find the people who fatally shot him.
“This individual didn’t give a chance to my nephew,” said the victim’s aunt. “We want him caught, and we demand that the United States government do something about it.”
Cardona was laid to rest last week after his family raised thousands of dollars to fly his body back home.
No arrests have been made in his murder.
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