AURORA, Colo. — Seven months ago, Angela Arismendi and her family decided to make a move that would change their lives.
Arismendi, who only speaks Spanish, said the idea to come to Colorado from Colombia was to find a better, safer future.
When Arismendi, her husband, Carlos Julio Albarracin Albarracin, and their 6-year-old boy got to Colorado, they were comparing their city back home with the U.S. They would tell their family how safe it was and how they could walk on the street at all hours of the night without any problems.
But last week, the dreams they had of building a new life were taken in an instant by one man.
"I’ve never seen a crime spree that’s involved this many carjackings, home invasions and a homicide. This is unreal. This is unheard of," said Matthew Longshore, Aurora Police Department spokesperson.
Last Wednesday, 32-year-old Andrew Jacobs went on an hour-long crime spree that allegedly included a homicide, seven carjackings and three home invasions, according to Aurora police.
"The very first incident, he approached somebody with a gun, shots were fired but he didn’t get the vehicle. He ran off on foot, and then this is when the incident happened when the man was tragically killed," said Longshore.
Arismendi’s husband was sitting in his pickup truck alongside their 6-year-old son in the parking lot of the Florida Station Apartments. Police say Jacobs shot and killed him. Their son was able to make it out unharmed before Jacobs took off in the truck and was later arrested.
When Arismendi arrived to the apartment complex, police told her her husband had passed away in the hospital. Arismendi's son told her he already knew his dad had died because he wasn’t blinking anymore.
Arisemendi said she would like to ask Jacobs why he did it and why he didn't just steal the truck.
Now, left in alone in a foreign country, Arismendi promises to still provide her son the life they’d dreamed of.
Arisemndi knows it will be more difficult because she won’t have her husband’s support but that she'll fight for what they both wanted for their son.
A GoFundMe has been set up by friends of the family to help pay for costs attributed to the death of Arismendi's husband.
