The tragic death of a 3-year-old girl who was locked inside a burning car in Queens has been ruled a homicide, police said Monday. Little Zoey Pereira was inside the 2008 Audi sedan — which was chained shut — when it went up in flames shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday near Baisley Boulevard and 155th Street. She was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center but could not be saved. Her 39-year-old father, from Valley Stream, was on fire as he ran from the scene, according to police sources and witnesses. He jumped into Baisley Pond to extinguish the flames. The dad also was taken to Jamaica Hospital with second- and third-degree burns, sources said. The father, whose name was not immediately released, was later taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan and is now in police custody. Officials had received a 911 call about a car stopped in the middle of the intersection. When authorities arrived, they noticed the inside of the car was on fire — and the windows on the fully engulfed sedan were closed, Deputy Chief Joseph Gallucci said at the scene. Investigators discovered one gas canister in the street and another in the back seat, sources said. The incident, which is still under investigation, appears to have been related to a custody dispute.<doc-sep>An NYPD source says the manner of 3-year-old Zoey Pereira's death has been ruled a homicide 3-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Found in Burning Car With Doors Chained Shut A 3-year-old girl died Sunday night in New York City after being pulled from a burning car authorities allege was set ablaze by the child’s father, who is now in police custody. An NYPD source tells PEOPLE that by the time officers were able to extract Zoey Pereira from the backseat of a torched 2008 Audi parked in the Queens section of the city, she was still alive but had sustained severe burns. Get push notifications with news, features and more. The first call about the fire was received shortly after 9 p.m. Zoey, in critical condition, was rushed by ambulance to the closest hospital. But soon after arriving at the emergency room, doctors pronounced her dead, says the source. The NYPD source confirms the manner of death has been determined to be a homicide. The source further indicates the Audi’s doors had been chained shut from the inside, trapping the toddler inside. The windows were also rolled up. Gas canisters and a fuel tank were found outside the vehicle. According to the source, investigators have since learned Zoey was at the center of an alleged custody dispute between her estranged parents, who live on Long Island. At the moment, a 39-year-old man described by authorities as Zoey’s biological father is in the hospital recovering from burns. He was taken into custody soon after police arrived on the scene, but Newsday reports he has not been questioned yet. The source tells PEOPLE the man, on fire, ran into a nearby park, where he jumped into a pond to extinguish the flames. No charges have been filed against the man at this point, and police have yet to release his name to the media. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.<doc-sep>A Valley Stream man whose 3-year-old daughter died in a Queens car fire was in NYPD custody Monday as investigators considered charging him in connection with the child’s death, police said. Martin Pereira, 39, also suffered burns in the Sunday night fire, which consumed a 2008 Audi sedan at 154th Street and Baisley Boulevard and killed his daughter, Zoey, who had been living with her mother in nearby Rochdale, according to the NYPD. As the fire burned, first responders pulled Zoey from the car and performed CPR before they took her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where she died from severe burns, police said. Investigators were treating the case as a homicide stemming from a possible custody dispute over Zoey involving Pereira and the child’s mother. As of early Monday night, no charges had been filed against Pereira, according to an NYPD spokesman. The Queens district attorney’s office also had received no notification of any charges, a spokeswoman said. Pereira was discovered at about 8:52 p.m. a short distance from the burning Audi at Baisley Pond Park after police officers responded to a 911 call. Pereira had reportedly run into the pond with his clothes on fire and told Good Samaritans who doused the flames with a blanket that his daughter was still in the sedan. Investigators arrived to find a gasoline can and gasoline by the car as well as what appeared to be a butane canister, an NYPD spokesman said. Police disputed earlier reports that the car doors had been chained shut. Pereira, who suffered burns over most of his body, was first taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, then transferred to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. He was in serious but stable condition, officials said. Sign up to get the latest updates Get Newsday's Breaking News alerts in your inbox. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. Neighbors of Pereira in Valley Stream described the residents of his home as quiet and friendly, but a bit reserved. Police didn’t have information about Pereira’s employment status. Zoey’s mother, whose name wasn’t officially released by the NYPD, couldn’t be reached for comment. Cases of child homicide, particularly those involving fire, are rare, said one seasoned NYPD investigator who didn’t want to be named. The last major New York City case of note came to light on a Sunday afternoon in August 2018 when tourists found the body of 7-month-old Jason Saldana in the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge. The baby’s 37-year-old father, after being taken into custody in by the NYPD in Thailand, was charged with concealment of a corpse. The case is pending in Manhattan State Supreme Court, records show. With Chau Lam and Michael O’Keeffe<doc-sep>A monstrous dad allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter to burn alive near a Queens park — strapped to her baby seat inside a chained-shut, gasoline-covered car that was set ablaze Sunday, police sources said. The full horror of Zoey Pereira’s final moments emerged Monday as cops ruled her death a homicide — and sources say 39-year-old Martin Pereira is “absolutely” the prime suspect in the tot’s death. “He killed a baby. He burned her alive. He did that to her. That’s not even human, that’s an animal. That’s a coward,” Zoey’s aunt told The Post. The dad was locked in a bitter custody dispute with the girl’s mom — and had been threatening to hurt their angelic toddler right before he allegedly left her burning inside the car that had been rigged up as a fiery prison, sources said. Zoey never had a chance. The little girl was strapped into a infant seat in the back of an Audi A6, and its rear doors were chained shut from the inside — one to the other so neither could be opened — in an apparent bid to frustrate attempts to rescue her, sources said. The vehicle had been doused in gasoline, and a propane tank in the trunk was set up to feed into the back seat via a tube, sources said. A second tank was found outside the car, sources added. A good Samaritan saw a flaming Martin flee the car when he pulled over at 155th Street and Baisley Boulevard, and used a blanket to help put out his burning clothes. Martin told him his baby was in the car — but while the Samaritan called 911, the father fled, according to police sources. The dad doused himself in nearby Baisley Pond Park — then tried to hide from cops as rescue workers fought to wrest his daughter from the wreckage. “The dad was down by the water,” the source said. “The only reason they found him was that a piece of his clothing was on fire.” The flaming scrap drew investigators’ eyes over toward the water, where they found Martin “stripped down to his underwear,” the source added. Police handcuffed him and connected him to an oxygen tank while FDNY members struggled to perform CPR on Zoey, the source said. First responders were able to extricate the girl — but only after the door handles that the chains were affixed to had melted, sources said. Zoey was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center but could not be saved. Martin Pereira, 39, suffered second- and third-degree burns, and was being treated at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. He was in police custody at the hospital, but had not been charged as of Monday evening. “He’s probably going to be charged with murder,” a police source told The Post. Another of Zoey’s aunts said Monday: “I hope he f–king dies.” “I’m just being honest. I hope he dies,” she said outside her sister Cherone Coleman’s Queens home Monday. Cherone Coleman and Pereira have been fighting over custody of their daughter Zoey, according to relatives and police sources. They were engaged, but Coleman, 36, broke it off about a month ago, police sources said. “He was acting kind of crazy lately since the breakup,” Cherone’s sister added. “And with his behavior, it did cross my mind that he may do something to harm my sister. But it did not cross my mind that he would do anything to harm a child, my niece, his daughter.” Martin had weekend visitation rights and picked up the child from Coleman on Saturday, police sources said. He later called her to discuss their relationship, but she told him to get lost. On Sunday, Martin phoned one of Coleman’s cousins in California and threatened to hurt the baby, prompting the cousin to call Coleman around 8 p.m. to warn her, sources said. The frantic mom called police in Nassau County — where Martin lives — then tried the NYPD, sources said. Coleman was at the 113th Precinct station when calls about the fire came in. Martin has a history of violence, according to family and police. He was arrested once for criminal contempt and twice for aggravated harassment against a different woman in 2013, sources said. Both parents had reported each other to various children’s protective agencies for maltreatment of Zoey this year, according to police sources. The city’s Administration for Children’s Services was investigating the mother, sources added. An ACS spokeswoman confirmed the agency is investigating the case along with the NYPD. It wasn’t clear why it was not probing Martin, but reps added that they only conduct investigations at the behest of the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. Reps for that state agency would not comment on why the dad wasn’t investigated. The grim family portrait painted by investigators stands in stark contrast to the image Martin put forth online. The dad’s Facebook page is dominated by photos of Zoey, including a profile picture depicting the two of them. “I missing her so much [sic],” the dad commented on a photo of the girl posted three weeks ago. Sunday was just his second weekend alone with the child since splitting with her mom, one of Coleman’s sisters said. An older snap shows Martin, Zoey and Coleman smiling happily together. Bizarrely, Martin posted a photo of the girl just hours before she was killed — showing her sitting with freshly styled hair in what appears to be a salon with balloons in the background. “She was adorable,” Coleman’s sister said of Zoey. “She liked her kitchen set, her tea set. She liked cooking for her mom, for her grandmother. She was just I guess what you would call a normal 3-year-old girl.” Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy and Sarah Trefethen<doc-sep>
The father of a 3-year-old found burned to death in a chained-shut car in Queens Sunday tried to hide from cops as his daughter was consumed by flames, according to police sources. Martin Pereira, 39, was found stripped down to his underwear and hiding near Baisley Park Pond — while a tan Audi A6 containing his 3-year-old daughter Zoey Pereira smoldered hundreds of feet away near Baisley Boulevard and 155th Street, the source said. “The only reason [cops] found him was that a piece of his clothing was on fire. He was stripped down to his underwear,” the source said, adding that Pereira was trying to hide from police. Pereira was taken into custody but has not been charged in Zoey’s death — which was ruled a homicide Monday. Doctors were treating him for second- and third-degree burns at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan on Monday. Cops believe the dad was embroiled in a custody dispute with Zoey’s mom and was supposed to be returning the child to the mother Sunday night, another law enforcement source said. The frantic mom called 911 to report her child missing around the same time Zoey was burning, the source added. Two of the girl’s aunts raged about Pereira outside the tot’s mother’s house Monday. “He did that to her. That’s not even human, that’s an animal,” said one of the aunts. “Hopefully he dies. I’m just being honest. I hope he dies,” the other added. It was Pereira’s second weekend with the child since he split with Zoey’s mom, the second aunt added. “His behavior recently has been very erratic,” she said. Pierera posted a photo of Zoey to Facebook just hours before she was killed. The portrait shows the little girl with freshly styled hair sitting in what appears to be a hair salon with balloons in the background. Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Craig McCarthy