New details of Arcadia teen’s murder as accused killer revealed

The 20-year-old man accused of killing his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend at her Arcadia home on Thursday burst into the house that morning, drunk, before returning later to shoot her, his distraught family said.

Relatives close to murdered teenager Mina Kurdian described to the California Post the terrifying lead-up to the alleged murder — while also revealing they believed suspect Paul Anthony Cruz Jr. was just 17 years old.

“He was never introduced to any family members,” a relative said, adding that Mina’s relatives would not have approved if they had known Cruz was an adult. Her family said the two began an on-off relationship about a year ago, but she largely kept the relationship a secret.

“I think she was embarrassed to say he was 20. If I knew he was, it would be a whole different situation,” the relative said.

Mina’s grandfather, Nick Eftekhari, told the Post that she broke up with Cruz several weeks before the alleged murder. Cruz wanted to reconcile with her, he said, and became upset when they couldn’t reconcile.

On the day of her alleged murder, a disturbed Mina texted her family about a frightening encounter she had with Cruz early that morning, when he showed up at her house drunk and belligerent around 5 a.m.

The family said Cruz had a bottle of Hennessy and appeared to have been awake all night. The two men fought and she kicked him out of the apartment.

“(He) was just a drunk who came there and thought it was okay for him to show up whenever he wanted,” one insider said, adding that Cruz was emboldened to confront Mina because only his mother and sister were home at the time.

After Cruz left, Mina planned to visit a relative’s house, her family said.

Her last text message to a family member, around 8:53 a.m., said she was going to take a shower and get ready.

Cruz then returned to the apartment around 11 a.m. and tried unsuccessfully to break a glass door, his family said. He shot through a window to gain entry, they added.

Cruz then shot Mina in the head. The police pronounced him dead on the spot.

Police said Cruz fled the scene and was later found in a Petco parking lot in Pasadena with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As of Friday morning, he remained in the hospital in critical condition.

Mina’s family hopes the accused murderer survives and faces justice.

“She was just a kid,” a second family member told the Post.

The teen aspired to be a cosmetologist, loved spending time with her family and enjoyed theme parks, her family said, describing her as “funny, happy and adventurous.”

An investigation into Mina’s death is underway.

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