Man accused of killing NYC boy in Dominican Republic knew family, dad says

The father of one of the six men arrested for the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old Bronx boy killed in the Dominican Republic said his son knew the family of the victim and was “easily manipulated” by the ringleader of the botched robbery.

Derlin Javier Mercado Martínez, 24, was among the men taken into custody over the fatal shooting of little Gioser Luís Feliz, who was on vacation with his father when the two were allegedly targeted by longtime family friend Tomás Peña Morel, 32, and his crew.

Martínez’s father, Don Fausto, told the Listin Diario that his son also knew the victim’s dad, Sergio Luis Feliz Mancebo, from back when he tried his luck in the US working as a delivery driver in The Bronx.

Fausto said that after his son’s American dream failed, he came back to the Dominican Republic and got caught up in the wrong crowd.

Fausto, who condemned his son’s alleged involvement in the failed robbery and fatal shooting, said Martinez “came to do this foolishness” because he “is a weak-minded person.”

“These are the mistakes of youths who want to take things the easy way,” the disappointed dad said.

Fausto said his son, once a carefree young man, took a tour around Mexico last year instead of working in a truck delivery business with him.

In January, Martinez raised more than $8,200 to move to The Bronx, where he bought a scooter to work as a delivery man, Fausto said. That’s where he met Mancebo, the boy’s dad.

Martinez, however, quickly became disillusioned and “did not feel well” living in America and away from his wife, prompting him to move home.

“He liked to work, but he got out of control because of his buddies,” Fausto said, referring to the other men arrested in the shooting.

Along with Martinez and Morel, police arrested Luis Ángel Vargas Brito, Cesar Junior Ulloa Cuevas, José Manuel Almonte Santana and Elian Martínez Sánchez.

Police said Morel, a friend of Mancebo, was known to the family and had knowledge of their travel route and itinerary. He is accused of masterminding the attack.

Mancebo and his son had just flown in from John F. Kennedy International Airport and were en route to a relative’s house when the violence unfolded, Univision reported.

The dad told reporters that the thieves knew his family would be the ideal victims.

“It was an attempt to rob me of my belongings without me knowing who it would be because it was my first time coming to Santiago,” he said.

The mourning father recently posted a series of pictures of father and son on his Instagram, including one with a broken heart emoji and one with the boy wearing a backpack.

“I love you baby only God knows my pain. I don’t want to arrive in my house and enter your room My God I’m going to die,” read one gut-wrenching Saturday entry.

In another, the dad wrote, “My heart is dead my love” and “you were always the reason for my life. I love you my love, my life.”

On Saturday, across the street from where the boy lived in The Bronx, a makeshift memorial had been set up, with pictures of Gioser as well as flowers, candles, balloons and a piece from a foosball table.

“That baby really like foosball,” recalled Aristid Palanco, 37, who said he is Gioser’s cousin.

The boy lived part-time with his mom in Connecticut and part-time with his dad in The Bronx, said the cousin, who added that Morel lives in the same building as the boy’s dad.