North Carolina police have arrested a 19-year-old man accused of killing a mother-of-five during a deadly home invasion in Monroe earlier this month, and are working to locate the second suspect.
Antwan David Sturdivant, 19, was arrested on July 24 and is accused alongside 25-year-old Byron Blair Watkins in the July 12 murder of the Monroe mother, Lucero Sosa Capote, at her home in the 1600 block of Tower Court.
Capote died protecting her children during the break-in, police said.
“Antwan Sturdivant is in custody. We will have another media release in the morning,” the Monroe Police Department said in a statement.
The 19-year-old is being charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and assault on a female, police said. He has not been granted bond.
His arrest came hours after the Monroe police department issued a search warrant for the pair, which described them as “armed and dangerous.”
Police described Sturdivant as a 5’10” black male with short dreads weighing around 180 lbs.
The 25-year-old is being charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharge a firearm in an occupied dwelling, and assault on a child under 12.
Sturdivant and Watkins allegedly forced their way into the Monroe home wearing masks at around 4.40 a.m. on July 12, but were confronted by the mother and her children, police said.
As the pair demanded money, an altercation occurred, and Capote was shot and killed in front of her children, while two of them sustained injuries. All five of her children are under the age of 13.
BREAKING: @MonroeNCPolice has obtained warrants for the murder of Lucero Sosa Capote (occurred on July 12). Antwan Sturdivant (left) and Byron Watkins (right) are being charged with first-degree murder, as well as additional charges. Considered armed and dangerous. @FOX46News pic.twitter.com/6qvuO9O2GU
— David Sentendrey (@DavidFox46) July 24, 2019
Meanwhile, officials are still searching for Watkins, who they described as a 5’6” tall white male, weighing around 160 lbs with “tattoos about his entire body.”
Before being shot, Capote placed herself between the two intruders and her children to protect them, her 12-year-old son, Leonardo Sosa, told WBTV.
“The last words she said to me were ‘I love you,’” he said.
“It was wrong, for someone to do that, to my own mother,” he added. “I always told her, I’d say that me and my dad would always protect her.”
“She was the best mom I could ever have since the day I was born.”
Capote’s brother, Jason Sosa, expressed his disbelief that the five children have lost their mother, who was “always so nice, so sweet to everyone.”
“This isn’t right. This isn’t right. You took the mother of five kids. It’s not right. You didn’t have to do that,”
Sosa told WBTV.
Have you seen these men? Monroe police are looking for them in connection to the murder of Lucero Sosa Capote (third picture).
Lucero was a mom of five and beloved in her community. She was killed during a home invasion trying to protect her kids from the intruders. @WBTV_News pic.twitter.com/Jzu4HsIdXw
— Paige Pauroso (@PaigePauroso) July 24, 2019
Capote’s sister, Mariam Sosa Capote, told WSOCTV she hopes her sister’s killers will be brought to justice.
“I think the only word to describes her is loving. She’s caring. She has so much compassion for others,” she said.
“We know that God will bring everything to light. He’s the one who’s going to let his light shine through all this.”
Since Capote’s murder, the children have moved into a smaller home with their grandparents as they say it is too painful to remain in the house they lived in with their mother, according to the outlet.
Anyone with information on either subject or the whereabouts of Watkins should get in touch with the Monroe Police Department at 704-282-4700 or the Union County Crime Stoppers at 704-283-5600.
