‘You’ll never see your daughter again,’ deranged dad told mother of 3-year-old Queens girl who died in car fire with doors chained shut

When the law gets in your business….

Queens, New York – The mother of a little Queens girl burned alive in a car with its doors chained shut said Monday that the words she heard from the tot’s deranged father before the crime are forever etched in her mind: “You’ll never see your daughter again.”

“I always thought he was going to hurt me,” said Cherone Coleman, 36, who spoke to the Daily News surrounded by family as she seesawed between grief and anger.

“I never thought he was going to hurt my daughter,” Coleman said.

“My daughter was perfect. She was loving, always smiling, and oh so caring,” said the grieving mom. “She was my only child, and I can’t have any more.”

On Sunday night, cops and firefighters pulled her badly-burned 3-year-old girl, Zoey, from a charred Audi in Springfield Gardens, just blocks from where Coleman and her only child lived.

Coleman told The News that the girl’s vindictive dad, Martin Pereira, had become unhinged in recent weeks as they battled over Zoey’s custody. Coleman said she had gone to court to modify their visitation agreement, but a judge denied her request.

Against her wishes, but with the court’s blessing, she said, Pereira left with the girl for a weekend visit on Saturday and Sunday. It was only the second time he had been entrusted with Zoey since she and Pereira broke up, Coleman said.

On Monday, Coleman said she wished she had disobeyed the judge’s order. “I should’ve just kept her and gone to jail,” she said.

COLEMAN IGNORED PEREIRA’S CALLS

Coleman said the nightmare began Saturday, when Pereira took Zoey to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park and claimed to its staff that Coleman had abused the child. ”He was calling me a drug dealer and a drug addict,” Coleman said.

Coleman denied being an abuser — but nonetheless, she said, the hospital staff let Pereira continue spending the weekend with their daughter. “They let him leave with her because he had all the paperwork stating he had visitation,” Coleman said.

On Sunday morning, Coleman said, Pereira repeatedly dialed her phone — but she wouldn’t take his calls.
Finally, he called a relative, who then called her. Coleman said she finally spoke with Pereira later on Sunday.
“Just before he burned my daughter he called saying crazy things,” Coleman said. “I couldn’t even understand some of them, but he said, `Do I have your attention now, bitch? I got your attention now, bitch. You’re never going to see your daughter again.’

Zoey died in in the back of her father’s flame-engulfed Audi, on Baisley Blvd. at 154th St., near Baisley Pond Park.

The doors to the car were chained shut as bright orange flames roared in the passenger compartment, said witnesses.

Pereira’s clothes were on fire as someone in the neighborhood urged him to run into nearby Baisley Pond. A passerby brought Pereira a blanket to help douse his flaming clothes.

“I have my kid in the car,” the father said, prompting the good Samaritan to call 911, sources said.
The fire was so hot, the car door handles securing the chains melted, enabling rescuers to get inside. They rushed Zoey to Jamaica Hospital in a police vehicle, but she could not be saved.

First responders found two gasoline canisters in the car, and a propane tank in the trunk, sources said.

KISSY’S THOUGHTS:

It’s sad that she had to choose between protecting her child, or going to jail.  It’s also crazy how many men I’ve seen fight over a kid, they don’t really want. The kid becomes a pawn in their game of controlling the other parent. 

Continue Reading at New York Daily News