Two brothers have been arrested in connection with the cold-blooded murder of a Philadelphia father who was fatally shot twice in the face while his 2-year-old daughter sat in the backseat during a carjacking.
Maurice Roberts, 21, was arrested at a New Jersey motel Saturday night for allegedly attacking 38-year-old Gerard Grandzol when he didn’t hand over his car keys to the assailants, police sources told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
But it was Robert’s 16-year-old brother, who police sources identified as Marvin Roberts, as the shooter. He was also taken into custody Saturday. Authorities have not formally released his name.
The brothers approached Grandzol – a beloved father and active community member – and snatched his wallet before asking for his car keys outside his house Thursday evening.
Dad with tot in car killed after refusing to give carjackers keys
Grandzol was worried about protecting his baby daughter and getting out of the car, according to the paper.
“The 16-year-old just stepped up to Mr. Grandzol and shot him twice in the head,” Philadelphia Police Captain John Ryan told the Inquirer.
Gerard Grandzol, 38, was shot and killed after refusing to give up his car keys because his daughter was in the backseat Thursday.
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The suspects then fled the scene. Grandzol was returning home with his daughter and dog from playing Frisbee, investigators said. He had just welcomed his second daughter in July.
“He was just the best father to our two girls that you could even imagine,” Kristin Grandzol, the victim’s wife, told KYW Newsradio. “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.
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A neighbor described Grandzol as “always smiling.”
“We’re going to miss him so dearly,” neighbor Yee Wan told CBS Philadelphia. “He was a fabulous person.”
The brothers had previous criminal records, police said, adding that the older Roberts was arrested about seven times. They could face murder charges, police said.
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