Miracles do happen.
A 17-year-old young man, Casmine Aska, stands accused of pushing his 9-year neighbor, Freddie Martin, off the roof of their five-story Bronx apartment building, giving us another sad saga of young people gone astray.
The awesome thing is this…Freddie lived.
“My son is very strong — he will survive,” said the boy’s father, Fred Martin, who spent Sunday at his son’s side at New York Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center.
Depending on who you ask, apparently Aska grabbed Freddie by the legs and hung him over the building.
“His feet were off the ground. I turned around. I slipped and Freddy fell,” said Aska. “I did not call 911. I did not tell my mother. I did not check to see if Freddy was okay.”
Aska is adamant that it was an accident. But he has also admitted that he didn’t go for help.
“I did not hear the thud until I went into the apartment, Aska said.”
Prosecutors have another account. They said that Aska dragged Martin up the stairs of their building on Nelson Ave. in Morris Heights on Friday, picked the boy up and threw him off the roof.
According to court papers, Freddie manage to tell his story before losing consciousness, Freddy managed to tell EMTs, “Cas dragged me to the roof and threw me off — I don’t know why.”
Aska’s lawyer, Katherine Dyer, insisted in Bronx Criminal court Sunday that the plunge was “a tragic accident.” She described the teen as a dedicated high school student and church volunteer.
Unfortunately, the so-called dedicated student has four prior arrests related to robbery, assault, harassment and menacing. Therefore, Aska was ordered held without bail.
In the meantime, Martin is expected to live and remains on life support and in a medically induced coma with collapsed lungs and a broken leg, arm and ribs.
“It is a miracle,” said Freddie’s father.
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