Ignoring Plea, Bandit Fires Fatal Shots : Crime: Man is slain, brother critically wounded in robbery that nets $150. Another bullet narrowly misses brother-in-law as the three are attacked after their truck runs out of gas.

As he pleaded for his life, a Mexican immigrant who had dreamed of earning enough money to help his children was fatally shot Sunday by a robber who then critically wounded the man’s brother.

Police said the gunman escaped with $150.

Juan Granados, 27, died hours after the 3 a.m. shooting, and his brother, Enrique Granados, 25, remains in critical condition, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dick Faust said. Both men lived in Santa Ana.

A brother-in-law, Jesus Ramirez, 25, who was robbed but escaped injury, said the assailant shot Juan Granados after he begged the man in Spanish “to just take the money and leave us alone.”

“The robber had walked up to me, put a gun to my head and said, ‘We want your money,’ ” Ramirez said in an interview Sunday.

The two brothers and Ramirez were attacked as they put gasoline in their truck after it ran out of gas in an alley in the 1100 block of West 1st Street, police said.

The robber first took Ramirez’s cash, then pointed the gun at Enrique Granados, who took money out of his wallet and handed it to the bandit. Juan Granados, who was in the driver’s seat of the truck, also surrendered his money.

Granados then got out and walked to the rear of the truck after he became concerned that the robber might harm his brother-in-law.

Granados “told the thief, ‘We don’t want any trouble. Take the money and please leave us alone,’ ” Ramirez said. “But he pointed the gun at Juan and fired two shots. Juan fell at the back of the truck. As Enrique turned to run, the guy shot him once in the chest near his neck.”

As the gunman continued firing, Ramirez started to back away.

“But then he turned and fired once at me. The bullet missed me but I heard it and felt it as it zipped over my head,” Ramirez said, motioning with his right hand to show the bullet’s path just an inch above his head.

The gunman and a companion then fled, he said.

Ramirez said he ran to a telephone and reported the robbery to police and summoned paramedics for his wounded relatives.

Juan Granados was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange in critical condition and died of his injuries about 11 a.m., Faust said.

Enrique Granados remained in critical condition Sunday night at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, officials said.

Faust said it appears the men were random victims.

Ramirez said he believes the gunman, whom he described as Latino, about 23 years old and wearing a mustache, may have been involved with gangs.

“He had on dark clothes and had a very short haircut like the cholos wear,” Ramirez said, adding that he failed to get a good look at the thief’s companion, who did not appear to be armed.

Of the $150 taken by the robbers, Ramirez said: “That’s not much when you think about it, is it? My brother-in-law’s life was worth much, much more. That’s why we told them we didn’t want any trouble. We said to them, ‘Here, take the money. Just leave us alone. We don’t want any trouble.’ But they shot anyway.”

Juan Granados, who was from Michoacan, Mexico, had been living with a sister in a Santa Ana apartment for several years. He and Ramirez had worked together painting automobiles, while Granados’ brother, Enrique, assembled wood furniture at a Santa Ana company.

On Sunday, Ramirez and another relative telephoned the brothers’ mother in Mexico and told her what happened.

“She didn’t say much,” Ramirez said. “I got on the telephone and told her, ‘I’m sorry, senora. But your son was shot and killed during a robbery.’ She sounded sick with grief.”

It was not the first time tragedy has hit the family.

Juan Granados’ wife and mother of his four children, who remain in Mexico with their grandmother, died of an illness several years ago. Granados wanted to come to the United States to earn enough money to improve his family’s life, according to Ramirez and other family members contacted Sunday.

The family, which is poor, doesn’t have enough money for burial, they said.

“We’ve been working hard, but the recession hasn’t been good. And now, we just got robbed,” Ramirez said.