NIGHTMARE IN BROOKLYN: Authorities in East New York yesterday wheel out the body of Luis Martinez, who was shot to death, allegedly while defending his sister against their landlord, leaving a trail of blood (inset). (NY Post: William C. Lopez)
A Brooklyn man was shot and killed yesterday — allegedly by his landlord during a vicious dispute over $100 in unpaid rent, police sources said.
Luis Martinez, 51, died defending his sister Anna Rodriguez and her two children from Philip Estevez, 63, who lives in the same house at 566 Shepherd Ave. in East New York, records and police sources said.
When Estevez didn’t immediately get his money, he allegedly began pummeling Rodriguez at around 1:05 p.m.
She eventually broke away and ran upstairs to her room in the house, with her daughter, Eliana Espinal, 10, and son, Elian Espinal, 12, in tow.
The kids would soon come to her rescue.
Martinez, who lived in a third room in the building, then confronted Estevez.
But the landlord pulled out a .22-caliber revolver and fired a shot at Martinez, police said.
It was unclear last night if that shot hit Martinez.
But Estevez allegedly finished the job seconds later by wresting Martinez to the ground, standing over his body and coldly firing execution-style into his head and chest, police said. Martinez died at the scene.
Estevez then walked to the upstairs apartment — where Rodriguez and her children were cowering — and repeatedly pulled the gun’s trigger, police said.
But the gun didn’t go off — all Rodriguez and the youngsters heard were clicks, they told police, according to the sources.
As Estevez made his way toward the children, Elian leaped more than 20 feet out the window and landed safely, cops said.
He ran three blocks to the nearby 75th Precinct station house, where he told cops, “Someone is trying to kill my mother.”
Estevez was eventually able to get into the room, and was greeted by a brave Eliana, who clobbered him with a “two-by four” piece of wood, sources said.
When cops arrived, they allegedly found Estevez with the gun and took him into custody.
He was charged today with murder in the second degree.
A neighbor and friend of Martinez described the grisly aftermath.
“When [Estevez] opened the door, there was blood everywhere,” said Amane Montes De Oca, 55, who lives in the building.
“He was covered in blood. He had a gun in his hand.”
Montes De Oca went upstairs, where she found Martinez lying in a pool of blood.
“He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t talking,” she said, sobbing. “He would always talk to me.”
Others said the fatal fight had been brewing for some time.
“I spoke to [Estevez Saturday night], and he told me that this person has to get the f–k out of here,” said Bazel Abdullah, 33, who says he lives in the building’s basement apartment with his mother.
“It is over money. [They] did not pay [their] rent.”
Later, an ambulance was called when a man who neighbors said was Rodriguez’s husband returned from work and passed out in the hallway. “He felt pain in his stomach and he collapsed,” said Montes De Oca.
Additional reporting by Natasha Velez, Kevin Sheehan