WHERE’S MOMMY?Maria Puello Villa yesterday holds great-grandson Jefferson, whose mom was killed. (Tomas E. Gaston)
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The former Junior Olympic boxing champ who miraculously survived a 75-foot fall from an icy stretch of Bronx highway underwent emergency surgery yesterday to repair severe liver and lung damage, his family said.
The tragedy, which critically injured Pedro Luis Sosa — who was set to sign a contract with boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya and turn pro yesterday — and killed his sister, Jennifer, was only the latest sorrow for the Bronx family, relatives said.
Mom Angela Escoto’s eldest son, Andy Duran, had been murdered at age 22 about five years ago in the Dominican Republic, they said.
“I’m praying for everything to come out well,’’ said a teary-eyed Escoto, 45, fingering rosary beads in Jacobi Medical Center’s waiting room as Pedro was recovering from surgery.
“I lost a daughter [in the crash],’’ she said. “I have no strength to lose [another] son. I’m waiting for my son to come back to be with us.”
Pedro, 19, had been driving young mom Jennifer, 20, and about six of her girlfriends home from their workplace, the La Paz restaurant in Port Jefferson, LI, at around 5:45 a.m. Sunday when the disaster unfolded.
Jennifer had only just started at the restaurant, the manager, Melvis Maldonado, 43, told The Post.
“She said she had a baby and she wanted money for the holiday for her Halloween costume,’’ the manager said. “They were so happy. They were supposed to come for the Halloween party here and were talking about their costumes.’’
But on the way home, the siblings’ van was involved in a minor chain-reaction accident on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
When Pedro and Jennifer got out of the vehicle to check the damage, another car skidded on the ice and slammed into them — knocking them over the railing.
Jennifer was on the phone with her mom telling her she was “fine’’ when they were struck.
She landed on top of her brother in a construction site below, but her liver was punctured and she bled to death, investigators told the family.
Sosa, who nearly made the 2012 US Olympic boxing team, suffered broken ribs, internal organ damage and internal bleeding.
“[Yesterday’s] operation was good,’’ said his former girlfriend, who didn’t want to give her name but was gathered with family at Jacobi.
“Major organs were punctured. We pray.”
Sosa’s father, also named Pedro, said his son will undergo a CT scan to assess his head injuries.
“He’s still at risk of his life,” he said.
At the family’s apartment in the Belmont section, Jennifer’s son, Jefferson, who turns 2 in January, pointed at pictures of his mother.
“He doesn’t know what happened, he just keeps asking for his mommy,” said Yesenia Sosa, 26, Jennifer’s elder sister.
As for Pedro, he had told his parents that as soon as money started flowing in from his boxing career, he would buy them a house “so they would never have to pay rent again,” said uncle Juan Cruz, 57.
Additional reporting by Douglas Montero and Kieran Crowley