The 80-year-old man shot point-blank in the head and killed on a Bronx street by a bike-pedaling gunman who’d apparently been lying in wait for him was “unproblematic” and “adored by all family and friends,” his daughter told The Post on Monday.
Patricia Valerio said the family was “in agony” over the shocking caught-on-camera slaying of her father Marcelino Valerio, who was gunned down at about 1:10 a.m. Sunday after attending a Sweet 16 celebration with his wife, according to police.
“My father was a healthy, strong 80-year-old adored by all family and friends,” she said in a statement.
“He was retired but was always a hardworking family man. If he wasn’t working he was the family’s handyman even as a retiree and he always enjoyed helping,” she added, noting her dad “never went out late at night, especially alone.”
Horrifying surveillance video captured Valerio’s killer — dressed in black from head to toe with a ski mask covering his face — riding up next to him on the sidewalk and shooting him twice, once point-blank in the head.
The slain man and his wife had just been dropped off in front of 1209 Ogden Avenue in Highbridge when the gunman – who appeared to be waiting for their arrival – launched the attack, according to the video.
Police have not identified a suspect or a motive for the killing, but the victim’s daughter said he wasn’t known to make enemies.
“Everyone that knows him will say he was unproblematic, calm, generous, and righteous,” Patricia said in the statement. “We have faith justice will be served for my father and that God is with us.”
Valerio, who lived with his wife, daughter and granddaughter, was returning from a Sweet 16 party in New Rochelle in Westchester County when he was ambushed, law-enforcement sources said.
Footage of the terrifying attack showed Valerio’s wife staggering in shock after the shooting, as two hysterical women rushed out of the idling car and desperately signaled around for help.
Moments earlier, the shooter had been riding past the building in the other direction, before circling back again when the car Valerio was in pulled up, the video shows.
The gunman fled on his bike after the shooting and was still at large Monday.
The building superintendent at a previous address for Valerio called the victim “hard-working, calm.”
“He wasn’t out in the streets, he was a homebody,” said the worker, Rafel De Leon.
“No problems ever arose with him. He was a marvelous person,” De Leon added.
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