Noelia Cruz spends her days making keys and serving customers, just like her father, Andres Cruz, did before he was gunned down in his store in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood on July 18, 2017.
"I feel closer to him being here," Noelia Cruz said. "To me, this is home, and this is where I spent most of my time with him."
Cruz reopened AC Hardware in January to keep her father's memory alive. It's been bittersweet.
She remembers the 20 years he spent living his dream in his business. But the Tremont Street store is also where he was shot and killed.
All three suspects in Cruz's killing are being held without bail awaiting trial on murder charges, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
"He didn't deserve that," Cruz said. "Know that nobody was here to help him, imagine what he went through."
Just days before the robbery, he was named the Mission Hill businessperson of the year.
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Students and merchants still come to get keys and offer their condolences.
Cruz's life will never be the same, but she says the store is.
"Wherever you see anything, that's exactly how he had it," she said.
The family will hold a memorial for Andres Cruz Wednesday at 4 p.m., the approximate time he was killed.
"He's my father and I owe it to him," Noelia Cruz said.
