Carlos Santay-Carrillo was rushing to buy gas to take his pregnant wife to the hospital, police say, when the robber came upon him.
In front of several customers pumping gas in Catonsville at 6 p.m. Saturday, the robber grabbed Santay-Carrillo around the chest and demanded money. The father-to-be pulled away, but the suspect stabbed him multiple times ? leaving Santay-Carrillo?s wife without a husband, and a newborn baby without a dad, police said.
Now, his wife, Claudia Sales, 23, is “in shock,” according to a family friend who identified herself only as Brenda and said she broke the news of Santay-Carrillo?s death to Sales. “She can?t believe it. She?s saying, ?This is not true. This did not happen.? She?s crying and crying.”
Santay-Carrillo, 19, was fatally stabbed Mother?s Day weekend at the Carroll Fuel gas station in the 5200 block of Baltimore National Pike, hours before his wife gave birth to the couple?s first child, Carlos David.
On Monday, Sales? friends held a news conference to call for leads in Santay-Carrillo?s slaying.
When police found him, he was “bleeding profusely,” said Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill.
“The most unfortunate thing is the cowardly way this suspect went about this,” Hill said. “There?s just no regard for life whatsoever in this incident. Instead of running away and not completing the robbery, he decided to kill this man. … This is a very sad case in our Hispanic community.”
Several witnesses described the suspect to detectives as a male in his mid-20s, between 5-foot-6-inches and 5-foot-9-inches tall, weighing between 140 and 160 pounds, with short black hair, wearing blue jeans and worn black tennis shoes. Police are looking for connections to other robberies in the area.
“This is not a crime-ridden area,” Hill said.
Family friend Bertha Anderson said: “It can happen to anybody else. Why should we let that happen again and again and again?”
Santay-Carrillo was excited to be a father and was extremely dedicated to his wife, Anderson said.
“They had a crib already set up,” she said. “There?s just so many emotions. She said she?s got a reason to keep on living. There?s a little person who?s a part of Carlos.”
