He was shot to death in the street after FaceTimed with his girlfriend; two orphans in New York

Photo: Andrés Correa Guatarasma / Courtesy

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Víctor Fertides, a devoted father of two, was shot to death three times on a street in the Bronx (NYC) in broad daylight, in a dramatic turnaround minutes after talking on FaceTime with his girlfriend.

Fertides, 37, received two shots to the torso and one to the leg on Ogden Ave. near W. 171st St. in the neighborhood Highbridge, around 2:20 p.m. Saturday, police said. He died later that day at Lincoln Hospital, leaving an 8-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy orphaned.

“I still can’t believe it…I literally had just FaceTimed him five minutes earlier. It seemed normal”

Victim’s girlfriend, Victor Fertides

“I still can’t believe it” his stunned 35-year-old girlfriend told the Daily Newsasking that his name not be used for fear of his safety with the killer still on the loose.

“I literally had just FaceTimed him five minutes earlier. She seemed normal. It seemed that she had not eaten anything and was tired. It was hot and humid. I asked him, ‘Do you need anything for the house? Because I’m asking for things,” recalled the woman, who is not the mother of Fertides’ children.

“The children were his world,” added the bride. “He saw them every day. His children are his heart and soul. I had so many plans for the future. He told me: ‘Everything I do is to improve my children. Everything I do is to give them a better life.’”

The couple shared an apartment in Harlem. “What hurts me is that every time he leaves the house I always give him a kiss and tell him: ‘Careful. You know these streets are crazy.’ That day I didn’t even kiss her, she was in the shower. I replay it in my head,” she recalled.

“I’m so mad at myself because I usually wake up before him and make him breakfast, make him coffee. That day she woke up before me.”

Fertides’ partner said the shooting may have resulted from a fight in the neighborhood. because he had argued with a woman days before he was killed and he thinks her boyfriend retaliated.

The New York police have not established a motive in the crime. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call. at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). also through the page crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.

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