Shukur Aikebaer’s eldest daughter described him as the greatest father ever, fighting through tears as her family reels from his kidnapping and execution.
“He was the greatest father ever,” the young woman said. “He was the best dad, best person. To anyone around him, everyone would say he’s just a blessing to have around.”
Aikebaer, 60, was an immigrant from China and part of the local Uyghur community.
He lived in Chino Hills and was the sole provider for his family.
He was a husband and father of three girls.
She and her family are still trying to figure out why Wednesday night’s events unfolded. “I want to know why because it does not make sense. Nothing makes sense.”
It feels like a movie. I just wish this was a bad dream and that I’ll wake up and he’ll be here,” she said.
The accused killer,
Zhengfeng Bo, 67, of Irvine
, and Aikebaer had known each other for approximately two decades, friends and family said.
A neighbor told CBS News Los Angeles that Zhengfeng Bo and Aikebaer worked together in real estate investment in China and the U.S.
Aikebaer and Bo knew each other through a prior working relationship.
The men’s families had once been close, according to
Zhengfeng Bo’s friend, who told NBC Los Angeles the deadly chain of events was “unbelievable.”
The surviving passenger, 66-year-old Jianquan Bo – also of Irvine – was arrested and booked at the West Valley Detention Center on charges of murder and kidnapping. He is currently being held without bail.
Bo met Aikebaer while overseeing a public works project in China’s Xinjiang region, according to the source article. Aikebaer was then a local bureaucrat. Bo eventually hired him as an assistant, and Aikebaer helped identify investment opportunities.
Two years before the violence, Zhengfeng confided in his friend some concerns he had about one of his investments. Lu said the alleged kidnapper asked him for resources to address concerns he had about a $20 million apartment complex in Pasadena.
“Basically, there’s no net positive cash flow for him or his business,” the friend said.
The business partners were embroiled in a heated, multi-million dollar dispute over the $20 million apartment complex located in Pasadena, California.
Zhengfeng and the owners of the apartment complex were involved in two separate lawsuits, one of which was filed as recently as last Monday.
Zhengfeng Bo’s attorney told Eyewitness News the controversy involves the apartment complex. According to the attorney, Bo is suing the former managers of the complex, whom he claims are not allowing him to take control of the property.
Bo’s attorney said that although Aikebaer’s name is not listed in either lawsuit, he described him as “a middleman,” saying he believes the victim introduced the suspect to the person with whom he had the dispute.
The violence erupted on Wednesday, July 29, around 10:15 p.m. in a residential neighborhood.
Suspects intentionally cut the power to Aikebaer’s Chino Hills home on July 29, luring him outside to check the panel before shooting him and forcing him into a car trunk.
The initial emergency call came in around 10 p.m. on July 29 when neighbors in the 2100 block of Monteverde Drive reported gunshots and screams.
A short pursuit ended at Monteverde Drive. When deputies ordered the two suspects out of the car, passenger Jianquan Bo got out and was taken into custody, but the driver, Zhengfeng Bo, did not comply.
Zhengfeng Bo got out of the car and walked to the vehicle’s open trunk and fired his gun into the trunk. A deputy opened fire and shot and killed Zhengfeng Bo.
Deputies discovered Aikebaer in the trunk and later learned that he had been shot when he was initially kidnapped as well.
“This was a calculated act of violence,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus at a Monday news conference.
In the viral moment that shocked the region, two men who had been close business partners for two decades turned to violence over a faltering investment project.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said on Monday that the brothers and the victim had a business relationship, and added that there was a dispute between them.
Authorities said they believe the kidnapping was connected to a business relationship involving the three men.
New images from a GoFundMe page set up to support the victim’s family show Aikebaer surrounded by his wife and daughters.
One image shows him hugging one of his daughters at her graduation.
A fundraising site says Aikebaer’s wife and daughter were home when he was kidnapped on Wednesday.
The fundraising site said Aikebaer was “an amazing father to three beautiful young daughters, and a loving husband to his wife.”