DOORBELL SLAY
Mom shot through peephole in message to gangster son: cops
A Bronx mom who simply went to answer the doorbell over the holiday weekend was fatally shot through the peephole in a “street-justice” hit tied to her gangbanger son, sources said Sunday.
Wendy Martinez, 45, a hospital receptionist, was in her Concourse Village apartment with her younger son Saturday when the doorbell rang at around 9:45 p.m., according to police sources.
Her eldest son, 25, a suspected gang member who was due to appear in court Monday for a fatal 2014 shooting, was not in the apartment at the time.
Martinez asked who it was but got no reply, according to sources.
She asked again after a second ring and then slid open the peephole when she heard no response. That’s when the gunman pumped a single shot through the viewing slot, striking Martinez’s face.
“The shooter knew he was shooting the mother after she answered the door,” a source said.
There is surveillance video of the killer at the building, but he carried an open umbrella to shield his identity, according to sources.
The gunman fled and Martinez’s 14-year-old son hid in a bedroom and called 911, sources said. He was so shocked and frightened that he had to be coaxed out when investigators arrived.
Cops believe the coldblooded killing is connected to Martinez’s older son, Brian Solano, who faces murder charges in the Dec. 8, 2014, shooting death of 21-year-old Willie Lora.
Solano is a reputed Trinitarios gang member, according to police sources, who say the mom’s apart- ment may have been targeted by the rival Bloods offshoot The Eden Boys.
Solano was on Long Island with his girlfriend when his mother was shot, according to the sources.
“That’s a gang-related hit,” a source said of Martinez’s murder. “This is street justice.”
Solano had a court hearing in his slay case scheduled for Monday, but law-enforcement sources said both the defense and the prosecution are now seeking an adjournment following his mother’s murder.
Gangbangers had made threats against Solano on Facebook right after Lora’s murder but none recently, according to police sources.
Solano spent nearly three years on Rikers Island awaiting trial in the 2014 case but was released on his own recognizance late last year after a private investigator got two grand-jury witnesses to say their testimony was coerced by law enforcement.
The PI, Manuel Gomez, said of Saturday’s shooting, “The target was toward the older son, Brian.”
Police removed the entire peephole as evidence Sunday. A bloody towel could be seen on the floor inside the apartment.
Meris Valdez, a nurse who worked with Martinez at Lincoln Hospital, said she was a dedicated mother.
“She loved her sons. She would do anything for her sons,” Valdez said.
A neighbor Hector Flores, added, “This is a safe building. No drugs, no people hanging out on the corners. To hear the gunshot and find out something like this happened here, it’s shocking.”