Boy thrown off building may have been deliberately pushed

MORRIS HEIGHTS

Police say 9-year-old Fred Martin was thrown off from five stories above off of the roof of his building on Nelson Avenue in the Morris Heights Section of the Bronx by another man in the building, 17-year-old Casmine Aska.

Eyewitness News spoke with the victim's father on Sunday. He was at his son's bedside telling how much he loved him, praying he will make a full recovery.

The child's moans and commotion drew many neighbors outside after he was pushed.

"He wasn't moving," said eyewitness Wanda Simonetti.

Some neighbors say they overheard kids playing in the stairwell before the fall.

"I think they were up there; they all fell," said eyewitness Philip Rivera.

Sources say the nine-year-old victim told police Aska tossed him over the ledge. He has been charged with second degree attempted murder.

As authorities sort out the moments before the push, the father tells Eyewitness News that Fred is scheduled for another surgery on Monday to drain the internal bleeding.

Investigators have not released a motive.

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