SAN ANTONIO – Two 18-year-olds are behind bars, suspected in the shooting death of store clerk Zachary Benavidez, and Benavidez's father wants them to pay the ultimate price.
“I want the death penalty," Benavidez said Sunday afternoon. "I mean it may not – it's not going to bring Zachary back, but I mean it's just – it's what they deserve. I mean these monsters killed my son. They murdered my son in cold blood."
D'Anthony Carter, 18, was arrested Saturday and charged with capital murder in Benavidez's death. Olanda Taylor, 18, was arrested June 10 and also faces a capital murder charge.
Police say Carter and Taylor, armed with handguns, went into the Diamond Food Mart on Vance Jackson where Benavidez, 23, was working on June 7. One of the teens hit Benavidez on the head with a pistol after he didn't open the register, according to an arrest affidavit.
Benavidez struggled with him before being shot seven times. A customer was shot in the leg as well.
Taylor told police after he was arrested that he had shot Benavidez and Carter had shot the customer.
Benavidez's father hopes the Bexar County District Attorney's Office doesn't accept a plea deal for either of them.
"Even if the guy wasn't there - didn't personally pull the trigger, he was still there," the elder Benavidez said. "He knew what he was getting into."
Carter and Taylor each face an aggravated robbery charge for an alleged robbery at a Metro PCS store less than 1 1/ 2 hours earlier that day. Both the robbery and the killing were caught on surveillance cameras. The images from each crime matched, according to an affidavit.
Both Carter and Taylor were identified after images from the robbery were released to law enforcement and media outlets.
Carter, an all-state cornerback for Stevens High School last season, was identified by two of his coaches and his high school counselor. New Braunfels police recognized Taylor.
Meanwhile, Benavidez's family struggles to cope with his loss.
"I have two younger boys," his father said. "They still keep thinking that Zachary's just at work and that's he's going to eventually come home from work."
Christopher Rene Benavidez forgets his son is gone sometimes. He catches himself thinking he needs to pick his son up from work, or, when getting off of a plane after a family vacation, expecting his son to be waiting at home.
Amidst all the sorrow, Benavidez said he's grateful for the kindness and support his family has received from co-workers and the community. Without that, he doesn't know how they would have gotten through it.