Weary and choked with emotion, the family of the young mother and two toddlers slain in Rancho Cordova spoke for the first time publicly about the victims at a press conference Thursday.
"She cared a lot for me, for all of us, for our parents, for our family," said Denis Bukhantsov, the husband of Alina Bukhantsov, 23, who was brutally killed in their home along with their children, Emmanuela, 3, and Avenir, 2.
His brother, Grigoriy Bukhantsov, a 19-year-old high school dropout, is being held on three counts of murder in the bloody attack.
As Denis Bukhantsov spoke to reporters, he held his youngest child, a cooing 6-month-old baby boy, who was found unharmed in another room at the house.
"I thank God for him," the father said of his infant son, while cradling the baby in his lap. "I have someone to live for. I will try to take care of him best I can. She was a great mom."
Bukhantsov walked into their duplex Tuesday afternoon and made the gruesome discovery of the three dead bodies.
He said his wife loved children and was happy to be a Sunday school teacher at their church. She was looking forward to being a teacher, after earning her degree at California State University, Sacramento, he said.
Slavic-American community leaders also spoke about the kindness of the victim and thanked the public for the outpouring of support during the tragedy.
Father talks about finding survivor after wife, toddlers killed
PHOTO CREDIT: Denis Bukhantsov, the husband of Alina Bukhantsov, 23, who was brutally killed in their home along with their children, Emmanuela, 3, and Avenir, 2, holds his six-month-old son Mark at a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012 in Sacramento. Mark was the only survivor at the crime scene allegedly by Grigoriy Bukhantsov, Denis's 19-year-old brother. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.
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