The 20-year-old accused of murdering his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend at her Arcadia home Thursday drunkenly barged into the house that morning before returning later to allegedly gun her down, her distraught family said.
Close relatives of the slain teen, Mina Kurdian, described to the California Post the terrifying lead-up to the alleged killing — while also revealing they believed suspect Paul Anthony Cruz Jr. was only 17 years old.
“He was never presented to any of the family members,” a relative said, adding Mina’s loved ones would not have approved if they knew Cruz was an adult. Her family said the two began an on-again, off-again relationship about a year ago, but she largely kept the relationship under wraps.
“I think she was embarrassed to say he was 20. If I knew he was, it would be a whole different situation,” the relative said.
Mina’s grandfather, Nick Eftekhari, told The Post she broke up with Cruz several weeks before the alleged murder. Cruz wanted to make up with her, he said, and became upset when they couldn’t reconcile.
On the day of her alleged murder, a disturbed Mina texted family about a frightening encounter she had with Cruz early that morning, when he showed up at her home drunk and belligerent around 5 a.m.
Family said Cruz had a bottle of Hennessy and appeared to have stayed up all night. The pair fought, and she kicked him out of the apartment.
“[He] was just a drunk coming there and thinking that it’s okay for him to show up whenever he wants,” a relative said, adding Cruz was emboldened to confront Mina because only her mother and sister were home at the time.
After Cruz left, Mina made plans to visit a relative’s house, her family said.
Her last text message to one family member, around 8:53 a.m., said she was going to shower and get ready.
Cruz then returned to the apartment around 11 a.m. and tried unsuccessfully to break a glass door, family said. He resorted to shooting through a window to gain entry, they added.
Cruz then shot Mina in the head. Police pronounced her dead at the scene.
Police said Cruz fled the scene and he was later found in a Petco parking lot in Pasadena with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As of Friday morning, he remained in the hospital in critical condition.
Mina’s family hopes the accused killer lives to face justice.
“She was just a kid,” a second family member told The Post.
The teenager aspired to be a cosmetologist, loved spending time with her family and enjoyed theme parks, her family said, describing her as “funny, happy and adventurous.”
An investigation into Mina’s death is ongoing.
