SACRAMENTO — Seconds after killing a 21-year-old father during a suspected home-invasion robbery on Friday, two suspects fired a bullet into the head of the man's 7-month-old son who was seated in a car seat, police said this weekend as they released new details on the case.
Investigators initially reported that the father, Sean Paul Aquitania, was killed inside a home after an attempted robbery and that his infant son, Sean Paul Aquitania Jr., was accidentally caught in the crossfire. But a more thorough investigation throughout the weekend determined that the son had been murdered execution-style in the car seat of his dad's Chevrolet Malibu.
"We are angered as law enforcement officers and disturbed as human beings that anyone could commit such an unconscionable act against an innocent child," said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.
Authorities are still searching for the suspects, Curran said.
Aquitania — who had tattoos of his baby's hand and footprint on his forearms — drove to a home on Country Greens Court shortly before 2 p.m. Friday to visit friends. He left the infant in the car and went to the front door. Two young men answered, and two other men ran up and forced their way inside, Curran said.
A melee erupted, and Aquitania received at least two bullets in the upper body. The two suspects ran away, stopping to shoot the baby. No one else was injured, Curran said.
A 24-year-old man inside the house ran to his car and drove to get help, Curran said, and a 21-year-old man ran out of the house, scooped the baby out of the car and went door to door looking for help.
A school bus driver saw the 21-year-old man and the baby, opened the doors and held the dying infant, Curran said. The baby was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about 5:15 p.m.
Deputies found Aquitania inside the home on Country Greens Court, where he was pronounced dead.
The two men whom Aquitania had gone to visit were questioned by detectives but not taken into custody. Initially they were cooperative, Curran said. But detectives have grown frustrated with them and believe they know more than they are saying.
"We don't think they're telling us the whole story," Curran said.
They've offered little description of the two suspects -- one of whom reportedly was wearing a black, hooded sweat shirt, the other, a green shirt and a green Oakland A's hat.
The events are weighing heavily on the investigating detectives, he said. They are angry, frustrated and asking for the public's help.
Curran said his heart goes out to the bus driver, who waited helplessly with a dying baby.
"It's very disturbing," he said. "It's something you never forget."
On Saturday afternoon, the Aquitania family struggled to grasp their losses.
Ferdinand Aquitania, 52, said his son Sean had been scared when his girlfriend, Monique Delacruz, became pregnant with their son. But the young couple agreed to keep the baby and Sean's priorities began to shift.
Delacruz spent Saturday at the Aquitania Elk Grove home. She declined to speak with The Bee.
The elder Aquitania said his son had worked the swing shift at a check cashing store on Richards Boulevard and would stop by his father's house afterward. While the grandfather played with the baby, the elder Sean would use the computer to check the status of job applications and fill out new ones. He had hoped to become a correctional officer.
Ferdinand Aquitania said his son had never really been a troublemaker but hung out with friends his parents didn't approve of.
But with the birth of Sean Paul Jr. on Jan. 30, "he started maturing," Ferdinand Aquitania said. "That was his life. He wanted to make a better change for him and for Monique."
Recently, Sean Aquitania had gotten tattoos of a baby's handprint and footprint on his forearms. One side read "My" and the other "Life."
"And now he's gone," Ferdinand Aquitania said through tears. "They're both gone."
Saturday afternoon on Country Greens Court, neighbors still were trying to absorb the news.
"It's impossible," said 17-year-old Pang Vang. "Unbelievable."
The teen was in class at Florin High School when the shootings occurred. After school, authorities would not allow her back into her cordoned-off neighborhood.
Vang and neighbor Gary Sain said the home involved in the incident had been a busy place before the shooting. People constantly came and went, sometimes with furniture.
Vang and Sain didn't know the residents well -- Sain said he wasn't exactly sure who lived there. But he also said the interactions he had had with people at the home were polite and respectful.
Curran said the Sheriff's Department had been called to the house only once in the last year, and that was for reports of firecrackers.
"It's a very sad thing," Sain said. "It's a shame things like this happen in the world. Quite a shame."
Investigators initially reported that the father, Sean Paul Aquitania, was killed inside a home after an attempted robbery and that his infant son, Sean Paul Aquitania Jr., was accidentally caught in the crossfire. But a more thorough investigation throughout the weekend determined that the son had been murdered execution-style in the car seat of his dad's Chevrolet Malibu.
"We are angered as law enforcement officers and disturbed as human beings that anyone could commit such an unconscionable act against an innocent child," said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.
Authorities are still searching for the suspects, Curran said.
Aquitania — who had tattoos of his baby's hand and footprint on his forearms — drove to a home on Country Greens Court shortly before 2 p.m. Friday to visit friends. He left the infant in the car and went to the front door. Two young men answered, and two other men ran up and forced their way inside, Curran said.
A melee erupted, and Aquitania received at least two bullets in the upper body. The two suspects ran away, stopping to shoot the baby. No one else was injured, Curran said.
A 24-year-old man inside the house ran to his car and drove to get help, Curran said, and a 21-year-old man ran out of the house, scooped the baby out of the car and went door to door looking for help.
A school bus driver saw the 21-year-old man and the baby, opened the doors and held the dying infant, Curran said. The baby was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about 5:15 p.m.
Deputies found Aquitania inside the home on Country Greens Court, where he was pronounced dead.
The two men whom Aquitania had gone to visit were questioned by detectives but not taken into custody. Initially they were cooperative, Curran said. But detectives have grown frustrated with them and believe they know more than they are saying.
"We don't think they're telling us the whole story," Curran said.
They've offered little description of the two suspects -- one of whom reportedly was wearing a black, hooded sweat shirt, the other, a green shirt and a green Oakland A's hat.
The events are weighing heavily on the investigating detectives, he said. They are angry, frustrated and asking for the public's help.
Curran said his heart goes out to the bus driver, who waited helplessly with a dying baby.
"It's very disturbing," he said. "It's something you never forget."
On Saturday afternoon, the Aquitania family struggled to grasp their losses.
Ferdinand Aquitania, 52, said his son Sean had been scared when his girlfriend, Monique Delacruz, became pregnant with their son. But the young couple agreed to keep the baby and Sean's priorities began to shift.
Delacruz spent Saturday at the Aquitania Elk Grove home. She declined to speak with The Bee.
The elder Aquitania said his son had worked the swing shift at a check cashing store on Richards Boulevard and would stop by his father's house afterward. While the grandfather played with the baby, the elder Sean would use the computer to check the status of job applications and fill out new ones. He had hoped to become a correctional officer.
Ferdinand Aquitania said his son had never really been a troublemaker but hung out with friends his parents didn't approve of.
But with the birth of Sean Paul Jr. on Jan. 30, "he started maturing," Ferdinand Aquitania said. "That was his life. He wanted to make a better change for him and for Monique."
Recently, Sean Aquitania had gotten tattoos of a baby's handprint and footprint on his forearms. One side read "My" and the other "Life."
"And now he's gone," Ferdinand Aquitania said through tears. "They're both gone."
Saturday afternoon on Country Greens Court, neighbors still were trying to absorb the news.
"It's impossible," said 17-year-old Pang Vang. "Unbelievable."
The teen was in class at Florin High School when the shootings occurred. After school, authorities would not allow her back into her cordoned-off neighborhood.
Vang and neighbor Gary Sain said the home involved in the incident had been a busy place before the shooting. People constantly came and went, sometimes with furniture.
Vang and Sain didn't know the residents well -- Sain said he wasn't exactly sure who lived there. But he also said the interactions he had had with people at the home were polite and respectful.
Curran said the Sheriff's Department had been called to the house only once in the last year, and that was for reports of firecrackers.
"It's a very sad thing," Sain said. "It's a shame things like this happen in the world. Quite a shame."
