Teen gunman busted in NYC stray bullet shooting death of Faridun Mavlonov, 15: ‘Doesn’t bring back my son’
Cops captured a teen gunman they say is responsible for the stray-bullet killing of a Brooklyn 15-year-old last summer — but the slain boy’s father said he’s still heartbroken despite the arrest.
“Nothing has changed. Doesn’t bring him back. Doesn’t bring back (my) son.” said Firdavs Mavlonov, whose son Faridun was blasted on a Bensonhurst street after a school argument escalated to gunfire on July 17, 2023.
“I feel a little better, but same thing, you’re not bringing . . . my son. It’s very hard.”
Suspect Leopoldo Nash Montoya, 18, was picked up earlier this month in Panama and extradited to the Big Apple Thursday to face a second-degree murder rap, police announced Friday.
The teen said nothing and kept his head down as he was led by cops out of the 62nd Precinct in a yellow polo shirt to await his arraignment. Police did not give details of how they tracked him down.
Shortly after learning of the arrest, Firdavs Mavlonov told The Post he’d “go crazy” if he came face-to-face with the alleged killer.
“I would tell him, ‘You killed my son,'” the grieving dad said. “He’s going to go to jail and not [go back] outside. If he was outside, he would kill other kids. For nothing, he killed my son. This is very stressful. Very hard.”
Police said Mavlonov was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when the James Madison High School student was shot in broad daylight by the gunman, who was targeting another boy with whom he had had a fight at Franklin Delano Roosevelt HS.
The two agreed to meet after school for a fistfight, but Montoya allegedly pulled a gun as soon as he saw his rival and opened fire — hitting Mavlonov who was walking with the intended target and three other youths.
Pals said Mavlonov dreamed of becoming a professional UFC fighter — but abhorred street violence.
“He wouldn’t use violence against a situation,” a friend of the victim said last year. “I remember I actually called him to stop a fight… He didn’t want to fight. What he did was settle it down, that’s it.
“He was like a big brother for everyone,” the pal added. “He looked out for them.”
The 15-year-old high schooler — the eldest of six children — was born in Uzbekistan and came to the US 10 years ago.
Montoya, of Gravesend – who was staying with relatives in the Central American country when he was apprehended by US Marshals and the Regional Fugitive Task Force on June 5 – was also charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted gang assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree assault in the slaying, cops said.
“We’re going to see when court starts,” the young victim’s dad said. “See how many years they give to him.”
“I really appreciate everybody,” he added. “The mayor, the detectives, the media. Everybody— thank you.”
