DALLAS — The smiles in a picture of Angel Perez Luna and his son, Gabriel, show just how much the two need each other.
“My baby loves him. He loves being with his dad,” said Nicole Hernandez, Perez Luna’s spouse and Gabriel’s mother.
At eight months old, baby Gabriel and Perez Luna were forced to spend their longest time apart.
Hernandez said that on Black Friday, Perez Luna was shopping for their son at the Target in Cityplace Market in Dallas. The two were on a FaceTime call while Perez Luna waited to use the restroom.
“There was a man who had clogged the toilet. So, he was still waiting for somebody to come out and, he just stopped texting me,” said Hernandez.
When she called back, Dallas Police answered saying that Perez Luna had been stabbed.
“I just like started bawling my eyes out because I wasn't even here. I was in Mexico," said Hernandez, who was with their son Gabriel. "I was so far, and I had already been gone for two weeks."
WFAA obtained an arrest warrant which stated that just after 11 a.m. that day, a witness entered the bathroom and heard a man say, “Today, I am going to commit a crime.”
The affidavit said ten minutes later, Perez Luna was washing his hands when that same man randomly stabbed him in the neck with what’s believed to be scissors.
“So, he just stuck his thumb in there and ran out and started like screaming for help,” said Hernandez. She said he was asking for his son.
Perez Luna underwent two surgeries. Hernandez said the surgeries were to repair a vein and a main artery going from his heart to his brain.
“It's a miracle that he's here with us,” said Hernandez.
WFAA reached out to Target but has not received a response.
DPD said on Monday that officers arrested 43-year-old Robert Weldon Fields near El Centro College as he was getting on a DART train.
The arrest affidavit said Fields was wearing the same clothes described in the stabbing. It also said Fields denied stabbing Perez Luna stating, “If I had stabbed him, he would be dead.”
The document stated that Fields later said, "I was surprised that he survived." Fields is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Perez Luna is recovering at Baylor Scott & White Hospital. He is now talking and able to walk a little.
“I'm so thankful that God was on his side,” said Hernandez.
After two weeks, Perez Luna finally got to see his son.
Family members have created a GoFundMe for Perez Luna. Anyone interested in supporting his recovery can visit here.