A Brooklyn man was shot and killed by his landlord during a vicious dispute over $100 in unpaid rent, police sources said.
Luis Martinez, 51, died defending sister Anna Rodriguez and her two children from the unhinged man, Philip Estevez, 63, who lives in the same house at 566 Shepherd Ave. in East New York, records and sources said.
When Estevez didn’t immediately get his money, he began pummeling Rodriguez around 1:05 p.m., police sources said.
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 two kids would soon come to her rescue.
Martinez, who lives in a third room in the building, then confronted Estevez.
But the lunatic 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 shots 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 gun didn’t go off — all Rodriguez and her children heard were clicking sounds, they told police, according to 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 where he told cops, “Someone is trying to kill my mother.”
Estevez was eventually able to get inside 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 found Estevez with the gun and took him into custody.
“When they brought `Phillipe’ out in handcuffs, he had blood all over his face,” said Jose Torres, 22, who owns a bodega across the street.
Neighbors 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– out of here,” said Bazel Abdullah, 33, who says he lives in the building’s separate basement apartment with his mother.
“It is over money. [They] did not pay [their] rent.”
It was unclear how much Martinez and his family paid in rent.
Abdullah, though said his and his mother’s rent is $500 monthly.
Neighbors were shocked by the shooting.
[Estevez] is a very peaceful man,” Torres said. “You would never expect him to shoot anyone.”
Another neighbor, who loves next door, Estevez was “a calm, relaxed fellow, I couldn’t picture him shooting anyone. He’s such a quiet man. The only time you see him is when he’s out digging through snow.”
Additional reporting by Natasha Velez and Kevin Sheehan