Photo : Getty A 3-year-old child burned to death inside a car that had been set on fire and its doors chained shut, and her father is in a hospital under police custody, suspected of being involved in what authorities are calling the tot’s homicide. Advertisement Police and firefighters found little Zoey Pereira strapped inside the backseat of a car that was engulfed in flames on a street in New York City’s Queens borough Sunday night. The doors had been chained shut, but the heat from the flames was so intense, the metal melted enough for the rescuers to pull the little girl from the death trap, according to the New York Daily News. They rushed her to a hospital, but it was too late. Zoey was declared dead. Police are investigating Zoey’s death as a homicide, according to the New York Times, which reports that a witness told investigators that he saw Zoey’s father, Martin Pereira, 39, running from the car with his clothes on fire. He ran into a nearby park, where he jumped into a lake to douse the flames, the witness said. Police took him to the hospital, where on Tuesday, he remained badly burned and under medical sedation, according to the News. According to the Times: Investigators found two gas canisters — one in front of the car and one in the rear seat — and a 20-pound propane tank in the trunk. The tank had a hose attached to it that ran into the back seat, according to a city official close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information. While Pereira is in police custody, he has not been charged with a crime as authorities have been unable to question him to find out exactly what happened, the News reports. However, friends, family members and the child’s mother told reporters that she and Pereira had been in an ugly custody battle over Zoey. Advertisement “There was a lot of stress building up in him,” a former co-worker, Angel Rivera, told the Times of Pereira, saying that Pereira had been distraught and complained he was only going to see his daughter every two weeks. The child’s mother, 36-year-old Cherone Coleman, overcome by grief and anger, told the News that Pereira had their daughter in his care at the time of the child’s death due to a judge’s order, and that she wishes she had disobeyed the judge. Advertisement “I should’ve just kept her and gone to jail,” Coleman said.<doc-sep>“It’s shocking, for sure,” said a neighbor of Coleman, who lives near the grisly scene.”Especially as a father. I mean I don’t know what would make somebody do something like that, to their own child. I don’t know. I just feel for her mom. She must be devastated.”<doc-sep>The episode is the latest in a string of cases in which children have been killed during custody battles between parents. The Center for Judicial Excellence, an organization that tracks the safety of children in family court disputes, estimates that 679 have been killed by a divorcing or separated parent throughout the country since 2008, or about 60 each year. Nearly a year ago, a 47-year-old mother killed her 7-year-old son by pushing him off the balcony of the Gotham Hotel in Midtown Manhattan before jumping herself. She had also been in a custody dispute. The city Administration for Children’s Services had a file of past complaints concerning Zoey, but the reports appeared to be related to her parents’ custody battle, said an official familiar with the situation, who was not authorized to release the information. It is not uncommon for a parent in a custody dispute to accuse the other of abuse, the official said. Mr. Rivera, the former work colleague, said Mr. Pereira had expressed fears that his daughter was being physically abused and exposed to marijuana smoke. He had told Mr. Rivera that Zoey’s mother had punched him in the face during one fight. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you go straight to the police?’” Mr. Rivera recalled. “‘Maybe if you had, you could get custody of your daughter easier.’” Zoey’s mother, Cherone Coleman, declined a request for an interview. Mr. Pereira was arrested once before, six years ago, on charges of aggravated harassment involving a young woman, but the outcome of the case was sealed, the police said. The episode that ended with Zoey’s death began shortly before 9 p.m. on Sunday, when the authorities responded to a 911 call for a car on fire near Baisley Pond Park in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood, the police said.<doc-sep>Cherone Coleman said her daughter, Zoey Pereira, was "loving, always smiling, and oh so caring" 'Never See Your Daughter Again': Mom Recounts Alleged Threat Before Girl, 3, Found in Burning Car The mother of the 3-year-old girl who died after being trapped inside a burning car Sunday night has broken her silence, claiming that the child’s father warned her via phone that very evening, telling her she’d never see her daughter again. “Just before he burned my daughter, he called, saying crazy things,” Zoey Pereira’s mother, Cherone Coleman, 36, told the New York Daily News. “I couldn’t even understand some of them, but he said, ‘Do I have your attention now, b—-? I got your attention now, b—-. You’re never going to see your daughter again.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. Coleman told the paper she immediately called the police, fearing for Zoey’s life, but had no idea where the girl and her father, Martin Pereira, could be. According to police, Pereira and Zoey were in Queens, where they’d both be found hours later. An NYPD source told PEOPLE on Monday Zoey was barely alive after being rescued from the backseat of a torched 2008 Audi. The little girl, in critical condition, was rushed to the closest hospital, but was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the emergency room, the source said. The source further explained that the Audi’s doors had been chained shut from the interior, trapping the toddler inside. The windows were also rolled up. Police would later find gas canisters and a fuel tank at the scene. “I always thought he was going to hurt me,” Coleman told the Daily News. “I never thought he was going to hurt my daughter.” Coleman said Zoey “was perfect,” describing the 3-year-old as “loving, always smiling, and oh so caring.” Coleman added: “She was my only child, and I can’t have any more.” Speaking to the paper, Coleman explained she’d split from Zoey’s father in March, leading to a bitter court battle over custody. Last week, a judge granted Pereira a weekend visit, Coleman said, against her wishes. He was able to keep her for Saturday and Sunday. Now, Coleman said she regrets respecting the judge’s order. “I should’ve just kept her and gone to jail,” she said. • 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. Pereira, 39, was taken into custody soon after police arrived at the scene, but has not been charged with a crime as of Tuesday. He is currently in the hospital recovering from burns.<doc-sep>
The mother of a 3-year-old Queens girl who died in a burning car Sunday evening had fought unsuccessfully to deny the father visitation rights and said Monday she “should’ve just kept her and gone to jail,” according to a report. The little girl’s remains were pulled late Sunday from the back of her father’s charred Audi in Queens. Reports said the back doors had been chained shut. The girl’s father, Martin Pereira, had reportedly told the mom, "You’re never going to see your daughter again.” Pereira was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan and treated for his burns. He is in police custody as of Monday evening, but has not been charged, The New York Daily News reported. Cherone Coleman, the girl's 36-year-old mom, told The Daily News that Pereira had become unhinged in recent weeks and the two had been engaged in an ugly court battle. She said, despite her wishes, a judge granted Pereira weekend visitation rights and he took their daughter on Saturday. It was only his second time visiting their daughter since they broke up, Coleman said. KENTUCKY DAD CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER PUNCHING, KILLING BABY OVER LOSING VIDEO GAME, POLICE SAY After ducking his calls over the weekend, Coleman said she finally spoke with Pereira late Sunday – right before their daughter was killed in the burning car. She alleged he told her, “Do I have your attention now, b----? I got your attention now, b----. You’re never going to see your daughter again.” GET THE FOX NEWS APP Police on Monday ruled their daughter’s death a homicide.