"He shot me and turned around and shot her," Feliciano said, "It's going to haunt me – she's an innocent. Nothing to do with it."
Police say Feliciano's 86-year-old grandfather, Heriberto Pagan shot Christina Huerta before running out of the house on 455 Virginia Avenue in the Rosebank section of Staten Island. Pagan then turned the gun on himself, taking his own life.
"I heard the shots, and tried to run back in," says Feliciano, "my neighbors stopped me – I knew my wife was dead."
Feliciano, Huerta and their 4-month-old son were living in a Staten Island home owned by Feliciano's ailing mother, who has moved elsewhere. Pagan felt the couple was taking advantage of her and encouraged his daughter to evict them, his grandson said.
The older man didn't accept his grandson's assurances that he had put drug problems behind him, Feliciano said. "He wouldn't let go of the past," said Feliciano, 47, who met the 28-year-old Huerta in a rehabilitation program three years ago. "He's not one to forget."
When the eviction process was delayed, it enraged Pagan.
Neighbors say Pagan often clashed with Feliciano, and often accused his grandson of stealing.
Now a son will never know his mother, or great-grandfather. 4-month-old Uriel was unharmed when the gunfire erupted all around the baby.
Feliciano said he is going to raise his son so he always has memory of his mother.
