Father Responding To Craigslist Ad Killed In Front Of Son

A father was fatally shot in front of his teenage son over the weekend after responding to a Craigslist ad for a cell phone.

Rene Balbuena and his 15-year-old son drove to South Los Angeles Saturday to buy a cell phone advertised on Craigslist.

Balbuena, 41, and his son knocked on a door thinking they were meeting the cellphone seller but were told to go away, NBC reports. Once they were back sitting in their SUV, two black males shot Balbuena three times in the upper torso, ABC reports.

A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous because the gunmen are still at large, told NBC she heard the shooting and ran outside to help.

"I said 911 was coming, they're on the way. He said, 'Please lady, tell me my daddy is going to be alright,'" she recalled.

Balbuena was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The teenager was treated for a graze wound in the upper arm. He's expected to be OK but is "inconsolable" and deeply traumatized, family and friends told CBS.

“My nephew has been unable to talk at all. Nothing,” said his aunt, Ana Guerrero.

Balvuena's relatives told ABC that Balbuena was a hard worker and took good care of his two children, wife and other family members.

"He was a good person, really, really good person, and I know he's in a good place with God right now. But it's hurting. It hurts a lot," said Guerrero.

To avoid dangerous scams, police are urging Craigslist buyers and sellers to meet in a public place -- preferably, at a police station.