21-year-old man shot to death inside apartment; roommate unaccounted for

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County police are searching for a teenager after someone killed his roommate in their apartment.

Investigators hope the teen can help solve the crime.

In an odd twist of events, the victim’s family in Mexico said they were worried about their loved one after hearing a gunshot while they were on the phone with him early Thursday.

Hours later, police found the man's body in his apartment.

Roberto Pacheco's next-door neighbor told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas that she didn't hear any gunshot Thursday, but 1,800 miles away, Pacheco's sister says she did.

She was on the phone with her brother when she says she heard a single gunshot.

“Twenty minutes later, I was told he has been killed, that he was shot. I didn’t believe it. I said, ‘I just spoke with him,’” sister Maria Pacheco said.

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Gwinnett County police said they were called by someone saying there'd been a shooting. They arrived to find the back door's glass broken.

“My cousin (Santiago) said he was shot at the door. He said somebody knocked at the door and when Santiago went to open, someone shot him. Santiago said he grabbed his personal stuff and left the apartment,” Maria Pacheco said.

Roberto Pacheco was found dead in the bedroom. His teenage cousin and roommate is nowhere to be found.

“It's crazy 'cause they just moved in. So, it's like someone had to know this person, like this person who did this had to know them,” the neighbor said, asking not to be identified.

“He was an easygoing guy. He was a hard worker. He told us he was paying the apartment rent,” Maria Pacheco told Thomas.

Police said they found some suspected drugs in the apartment and the evidence seems to match what the family told Thomas.

“We believe the method of entry is probably going to be the balcony door because it is a ground-level apartment. It would be easy for someone to just jump over the railing to make entry into the apartment,” said Cpl. Michele Pihera, with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Police are searching for Santiago, hoping he may be able to provide some answers in this shooting death.

Cox Media Group