| The 9-year-old Bronx boy killed in the Dominican Republic was gunned down as part of a robbery-gone-wrong � allegedly planned by a longtime family friend who preyed on the pair on their first trip to the country, according to police.
Tom�s Pe�a Morel, 32, was among six men busted in connection to the murder of Gioser Lu�s Feliz, who took a bullet to the head after leaving Santiago�s Cibao International Airport on a spring vacation with his father on Wednesday.
The boy and his father, Sergio Luis Feliz, had just flown in from New York�s JFK airport and were en route to a relative�s house when the violence unfolded, Univision reported.
Police said Morel, a friend of Sergio, was known to the family and had knowledge of their travel route and itinerary, and the mourning father 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,� Sergio said.
The boy�s uncle told reporters on Friday that Sergio and Morel have known each other for 10 years, and that they were �basically brothers.�
The shooting suspects, who were in a rented car, allegedly followed the family from the airport and opened fire when the family�s driver refused to pull over after going through a toll booth, police said.
Gioser was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Posted by JR |
ABR Group