SILENT WITNESS

Phoenix police hoping someone talked about grandfather’s murder

Feb 29, 2016, 2:52 PM | Updated: 2:53 pm

Raul Romero (Silent Witness Photo)

(Silent Witness Photo)

Meet 61-year-old Raul Romero.

Phoenix Police Homicide Detective Matt Hamas said Romero owned a custodial businesses that cleaned offices.

“By all accounts, Raul was a family man, never got into trouble, was well-liked in the community,” Hamas said. “I found no one that had anything bad to say about him.”

His daughter, Lora, said her dad — a father of five and much-loved grandfather of four — always put family first.

“My dad was very caring and would do anything for any of us,” she said.

Romero loved sports, especially softball. And he was a big fan of the Denver Broncos, watching football games every Sunday.

Just after 9 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, Romero left a friend’s house and headed home to his apartment near Ninth Street and Bethany Home Road.

“By all accounts, it looks like he was surprised in the parking lot and was shot,” Hamas said. “Neighbors came out and found him lying right next to his car with the driver’s door still open.”

There are no known witnesses and investigators are mystified.

“We don’t know if this was a robbery gone bad or if someone had a vendetta against him,” Hamas said. “We just don’t know.”

Hamas said the only hope is that someone involved in Romero’s murder has talked about it.

Lora said her family doesn’t understand why this happened or who did it and it would mean so much to find out.

Read more about this case.

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Phoenix police hoping someone talked about grandfather’s murder