BUST IN SLAY OF BX. MAN

Pot deal went bad: cops

A neighbor has been charged with the murder of a Bronx musician who managed to text “Judy, I’ve been shot” to his girlfriend before dying, officials said Thursday.

Elvis Torres, 25, allegedly shot Joenathan Pabon two weeks ago over a longstanding beef involving a marijuana deal, police sources said. Torres was arrested Wednesday on murder, manslaughter and weapons possession charges.

Torres lives in the same Bronx building, on Grand Concourse near E. 164th St. and just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium, where Pabon, 32, lived and was killed.

Pabon had just dropped his girlfriend’s three sons off at her sister’s home down the block and had returned home about 7:40 p.m. Dec. 2 when Torres allegedly shot him in the chest and the back during a clash outside Pabon’s 10th-floor apartment. Torres lives on the ninth floor.

Acevedo was at her job as a medical assistant when Pabon texted her that he was shot. The perpetually upbeat bachata musician was dead by the time Acevedo reached Lincoln Hospital.

“They tried to save him but they couldn’t,” Acevedo, 41, told the Daily News after the slaying. “JoJo was a loving, caring person, always willing to help people. Always reaching out to everybody.”

Within a few hours, cops had identified Torres as the shooter. The alleged gunman was caught on surveillance camera running down the stairwell after the shooting, Acevedo said.

“They showed me a picture of him,” she remembered. “On the picture the detective showed me, (Torres) is standing next to the door. They have pictures of him running down the staircase, running away after it happened.”

Acevedo also found texts on her boyfriend’s phone from Torres threatening him over money on the day Pabon died.

“What I saw on the message, this guy was asking him about money,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of money.”

She does believe Pabon protected her children by bringing them to her sister’s home.

“This guy had threatened him so he brought the kids to my sister’s house,” she said.

Torres’ arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Thursday.

“I want justice for him,” Acevedo said of her boyfriend. “He didn’t deserve to die this way.”