Casmine Aska, 17, has been charged with attempted murder and assault after allegedly throwing Freddy Martin, 9, from the roof. (Christopher Sadowski)
A 9-year-old Bronx boy who nearly died after allegedly being thrown from his apartment building’s roof has woken from a coma — and talked to NYPD detectives investigating the neighbor accused of trying to kill him, sources told The Post.
Those detectives were hoping to obtain a more detailed account from young victim Freddy Martin about how Casmine Aska, 17, allegedly hurled him from the top of 1545 Nelson Ave. in Morris Heights on Feb. 1, a law-enforcement source said
Freddy plunged five stories to the ground, suffering a broken arm and leg, as well as internal bleeding.
After briefly regaining consciousness, Freddy told cops that Aska, who lives above him, had shown up at his third-floor apartment and then dragged him to the roof.
“He threw me off. I don’t know why,” Freddy told them, according to authorities.
Sources said one of Freddy’s sneakers were found in the hallway, while another one was on the roof, along with his broken eyeglasses, “a sign of a struggle.”
Aska soon after was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault and other charges. He is being held without bail.
Aska denied throwing Freddy from the building.
Sources said he gave cops three different versions of what happened: Freddy walking along the building ledge and falling; his younger brother “play fighting” with Freddy and “Freddy fell;” and that he “grabbed Freddy around the legs . . . I turned around, and I slipped and Freddy fell.”
Since his fall, Freddy has been in a medically induced coma, and thus been unable to give cops more information that could contradict Aska’s claims, and bolster the case against him.
That changed in the past several days, when Freddy was removed from life-support equipment at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, began breathing on his own, and came out of the coma, the source said.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Steven Hymowitz, a lawyer for Freddy’s dad, who is also named Freddy Martin. “God was certainly with him.”
Freddy since has been interviewed by detectives. It is not known what he said.
Meanwhile, Hymowitz told The Post that he is filing a Bronx Supreme Court lawsuit on behalf of Freddy and his dad against the owners of the apartment building for their alleged failure to prevent residents from going on the roof.
“It’s our basic belief that the landlord has to take responsibility and be very vigilant about trying to protect children in the building and not enabling this kind of situation,” Hymowitz said.
“ You don’t want them to facilitate and create a situation where the kids can go on the roof and have access and after that, things like this happen. You certainly don’t want any activity on the roof.”