Fiancé, father call for justice for accountant’s murder

Police investigators respond to a robbery alarm at the South Road Properties (SRP) by motorcycle-riding suspects on Saturday afternoon.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

THE fiancé of the 25-year-old accountant who got robbed and shot dead by motorcycle-riding robbers near a construction site at the South Road Properties (SRP) last week called on the authorities to serve justice to their family.

Teodorico dela Cruz said he talked with Jennelyn Aquino last Saturday and hung up abruptly, not realizing it would be his last conversation with her.
“I was just shocked when Jennelyn’s mother texted to tell me that she was in the hospital,” he said.

He said he and Jennelyn were supposed to get married in April next year. “Marami kaming plano. Kasal nalang talaga ang kulang (We have so much plans together. The only lacking in our relationship is our wedding),” Dela Cruz said.

Aquino’s father Antonio called on the authorities to catch the perpetrators.

“Halos himatayin ’yung asawa ko (when we heard the news). Kaya pumunta agad ako dito (Cebu). Hustisya na lang para sa anak ko,” Antonio Aquino told reporters.

He and Dela Cruz were at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) during the turnover of Jennelyn’s personal items.

Senior Insp. Ryan Devaras, chief of the Cebu City police’s Investigation Management and Detection Branch (IMDB), said they have four suspects listed in the incident. “They were four of them riding two motorcycles,” he said.

Devaras said there were witnesses that saw the plate numbers and they already submitted these to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for identification.

Devaras said the suspects were “seasoned criminals” based on what happened. “They saw a little resistance and they didn’t hesitate in shooting her,” he said.

Recovered from the scene were the victim’s bag, wallets full of her identification cards and bank books. About P200,000 out of the P700,000 Aquino had in her possession was recovered from the crime scene.