Photo Courtesy of Eric D. Garvin / Facebook
A man from Staten Island, New York, traveled to Santiago, Chile, and was fatally shot while taking a photo. His family is demanding answers and justice.
According to ABC 7, 38-year-old Eric Eugene “Gene” Garvin died on Jan. 14 in the capital city of Santiago after getting robbed by three men and shot three times while taking a photo.
“From a father’s perspective, this is the darkest day in my life and my wife’s life,” his father, Eric D. Garvin, said.
On Facebook, Garvin posted about receiving the horrible news a week after his son’s death. He informed people that he and his daughter, Naomi, were headed to Santiago to meet with investigators.
“What they told us is my son was innocently walking down the street, paused for a moment, took a snapshot of a building in a drug-infested area,” the 38-year-old’s father said. “And immediately following that, three gentlemen came across the street, grabbed my son and stole his phone and shot him three times, and he died there on the scene.”
According to Garvin, his son was alone and on his way to dinner downtown before the robbery and murder.
The investigation is ongoing, and the Garvin family was able to bring his body home for his funeral, which is expected to arrive on Thursday, Feb. 2.
Gene was an NYC lawyer who loved to travel abroad, which was what he did before meeting this demise. He was supposed to travel to Argentina the day after he died with a friend who wasn’t with him when he was shot. The brilliant attorney graduated from law school at the University of Maryland. He also worked for the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Office of Criminal Justice, working to fight against gun violence.
Investigators are reviewing security footage that captured the crime and hasn’t been released to the public.
His funeral service will occur on Friday, Feb. 19, 202, at 11 a.m.