Father of twin 10-year-old girls shot to death while taking out trash
SACRAMENTO -- Friends and relatives are mourning a California father who was fatally shot Saturday night while taking out the trash in front of his Sacramento home.
Roy Eunice's two twin daughters were feet away when they heard three gunshots. One bullet even pierced the front door of their apartment along Broadway near Santa Cruz Way in Oak Park. Another went through two of their walls.
"This was a senseless murder," Mary Thompson, Eunice's sister, told KTXL. "He came out of his house just to dump his garbage."
The third hit Eunice in the chest.
"He walked in his house, told his 10-year-old daughters that he's been shot," Thompson said. "'Call your mom. Call 911.' He collapsed in front of his daughters and died."
Thompson says before her brother died, he was able to calm his daughters -- both of whom turned 10 last week.
"Their dad told them that it would be OK ... they're going back telling their mother that dad said it's going to be OK," she told KTXL.
Eunice is the father of three daughters. He was known at the twins' school for always helping out.
"He is a parent that would get awards from the school for his participation," Thompson said. "He not only helped out the school he helped out the teachers with supplies."
Investigators say they have no motive or suspect information in Eunice's death, but Thompson hopes whoever shot her brother does the right thing.
"To the person that did this, I forgive you. But if you have any remorse in your body, in your soul. You will come forward," she said. "Because I need to know why you would do this to my brother. It's not right."
In a sad twist of fate, Thompson says Eunice comforted a dying teenager on that same block back in December.
"And he actually came out here, to comfort the person that was dying on the ground. This is the type of person that he is," Thompson said.
That person was 16-year-old Timothy Jeter -- whose homicide remains unsolved.
"I'm still heartbroken, I'm still devastated," Heather Jeter, Timothy's mother, said. "I'm in limbo waiting to find out at least ... who did this."
Jeter says she is not surprised that another life has been taken by gun violence on that block. She believes police should focus more on Rout Avenue Park, which is next to Eunice's apartment complex.
"That park has always been a hotspot. Drugs, shootings, violence -- all sorts of things go on over there," Jeter said. "But there's no action from the city, from the police department, from the state, from anyone."
Both Thompson and Jeter think neighbors can help solve both cases.
"In relation to my son's death, in relation to the death of this man, speak up," Jeter said.
There is a GoFundMe campaign for Eunice and his family.