Nikitas’ sister speaks of the tragic outcome of a premeditated crime, after the 21-year-old was shot dead yesterday afternoon by a 54-year-old man in Ammoudara, Heraklion. As she explains, her brother had said he “wouldn’t escape” the man’s repeated attacks.

According to her, Nikitas lived in constant fear of the 54-year-old, who was stalking him and had made it his goal to kill him. The perpetrator had even fired what were effectively warning shots, having opened fire on Nikitas on two previous occasions.

In 2024, just months after a car accident in which the 54-year-old’s son lost his life—while the 21-year-old was driving—the man attacked both Nikitas and his sister with a firearm. “He shot at them back then—my brother and my sister. My brother stepped in front to protect her, but he missed. The bullet landed far away,” she says, explaining that the 54-year-old had become obsessed with Nikitas.

A few months ago, he shot at the 21-year-old again but missed once more. However, Nikitas remained fearful and had a bad feeling—that the third time would be fatal. “Two months ago he chased him with a gun. He had hidden behind bushes and shot him from behind, just like now. That second time he fired at him, we went to the police but they did nothing. He would go to our mother’s workplace and threaten her, wait near my brother’s job and follow him. My brother kept saying, ‘the third time I won’t make it,’” she stresses.

She also notes that the perpetrator and his wife were never able to accept that their son’s death was an accident—a case in which the victim was due to stand trial as the driver involved in the 2023 crash.

Nikitas’ sister places blame on the 54-year-old’s wife as well, whom she considers morally responsible for her brother’s murder. “My brother was an inexperienced driver and got into trouble while trying to help. The car wasn’t his—he simply had a license and agreed to help someone else who had been drinking. Their son was in the car. There would have been a trial for the accident, but they wanted revenge. They couldn’t accept it was an accident. His wife orchestrated everything—she was the one obsessed. People ask why my brother didn’t leave to save himself. In December he had heart problems, was on medication, he was unwell. That’s why he couldn’t leave home,” she says.

Funeral tomorrow

Meanwhile, the village of Chonos in Mylopotamos, the 21-year-old’s family hometown, is in mourning. Relatives, friends, and locals will bid him farewell tomorrow, Thursday (07/05), in an atmosphere of deep grief.

The young man’s body will be at the family home tonight. From there, relatives and friends will accompany him in the morning to Chonos, where the funeral will take place at 12 noon at the Church of Saint Kyriaki.

The family has also made an appeal to those attending the funeral to wear white. “Not black for our angel,” they say.