‘He had space in his heart for every person’
Man killed while defending another
Philip Antonino was in a good mood when he left for work the day he was killed.
In a tearful plea Friday, one week to the day Antonino left home alive for the last time, his wife made a tearful public plea for help in finding her husband’s killer.
“We cannot kill each other. We have to live in peace. It doesn’t matter race, color, religion. It doesn’t matter. We’re all people of this Earth,” Anna Antonino said during a news conference at the Broward Sheriff ’s Office where she was surrounded by family members who flew in from Italy.
The shooting happened at about 9 a.m. on Sept. 22 outside Phil & Lou’s Complete Auto Repair, 2831 SW 56th Ave. in West Park. In surveillance video, a man is seen using a portable grass trimmer on a patch of grass near the mechanic shop that Antonino, 57, co-owned with is brother Lou. A man walks up, and according to investigators, unloads a barrage of curses at the landscaper for not shutting off the trimmer when he walked by.
Hearing the commotion, Antonino walked outside, trying to calm the upset man, saying “he shouldn’t be talking to an elderly person like that,” detectives said.
The man who did the shooting made a threat, but Antonino didn’t think he actually had a gun.
“Unfortunately, we know how this story ends and he shot Mr. Antonino,” said the lead investigator on the case, Detective Valerian Perez.
The shooter jogged away, leaving Antonino to die on a sidewalk.
Deputies still haven’t found the shooter but believe the man may live in the area.