2nd arrest in Brooklyn gamer slay

A second man has been indicted for fatally beating a Brooklyn video game developer over a cigarette, prosecutors said Friday.

Damian Diaz, 29, was arraigned Thursday on manslaughter, assault and attempted assault charges for punching Jose Zambrano as the victim was heading home from a Williamsburg bar on Nov. 17.

Suspect Joshua Hernandez, 25, had previously been indicted in January on manslaughter charges and ordered held on $20,000 bail for taking part in the brutal attack. He is due back in court on Mar. 12.

Prosecutors say Zambrano, 26, was walking near Grand St. and Havemeyer St. around 4:30 a.m. when the two suspects approached and Hernandez asked him for a cigarette. When Zambrano refused, Diaz grabbed his arm.

Hernandez (inset) and Diaz both took turns beating Zambrano, until the victim and his pal walked away. Diaz then followed Zambrano down the street and struck him again, causing Zambrano to fall backwards and smash his head on a metal gate, prosecutors said.

Zambrano remained unconscious for four days before dying at Bellevue Hospital, surrounded by dozens of family members and friends.

Hernandez was picked up by cops about an hour after the attack. Diaz was arrested on Jan. 23, said prosecutors.

Diaz was ordered held on $250,000 bail and is due back in court on Apr. 1.

Both he and Hernandez face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Zambrano, a native of Venezuela who graduated from Suffolk University in Boston, co-founded a gaming business called Studio Studios after leaving a job in finance, friends and family said.

“To say he was beloved barely scratches the surface,” Zambrano’s girlfriend, Julie Piñero, told the Daily News in November.