ELMHURST — The suspect in a fatal stabbing just steps from the 7 train claimed his victim had blown kisses at him before the broad daylight attack — despite the fact that his victim was a married former MTA worker who had just taken his wife to the doctor, police and relatives said.
Investigators said suspect Steven Torres, 22, told them he was spurred to act after he thought Ever Orozco, 69, was making sexual advances on Roosevelt Avenue near 90th Street Monday afternoon.
Torres is also being charged in a Sept. 12 attack on a man on the Lower East Side — which he also allegedly claimed was sparked by the man blowing kisses at him.
Witnesses disputed Torres' account in the latest attack, saying the suspect was apparently not provoked before slashing his victim repeatedly and leaving him for dead, cops said.
"Yesterday, when I say, 'Bye Papi, I love you. You've been the best husband and I love you forever,'" said Orozco's greiving wife of 16 years, Alba Orozco. "What can I do? I can cry ... no."
"My husband, he's not with me. We were out all the time together, everywhere. Now, I am alone," she added.
Orozco said she couldn't believe her husband — an MTA mechanic who retired three years ago and spent his time remodeling cars and airplanes, listening to his large record collection, and renovating his apartment — would have ever made a pass at Torres.
"My husband — I never saw anything gay, never, never. I never saw my husband blow a kiss," she said.
Ever Orozco had driven his wife to a doctor's appointment near the 7 train Roosevelt Avenue stop shortly before 1 p.m. Monday and had just walked back to his Nissan Rogue SUV when he was approached by Torres, sources said.
At the time of the attack, Orozco was holding a parking ticket that had just been handed to him by a traffic agent, sources said.
Torres began to stab Orozco repeatedly with a knife, in front of horrified onlookers, sources said. Torres then left Orozco bleeding on the sidewalk and went upstairs to the 7 train station before returning to stab his victim one final time in his neck, sources said.
Orozco was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The horrific attack left Orozco's family reeling.
"There's no words to say, I just have to take it one day at a time," said son Harvey Orozco, 35, of Jamaica.
Harvey Orozco said his mother Gloria Orozco, who was divorced from Orozco, died last week in a car accident on 94th Street and the Grand Central.
"It's been crazy. Everything's coming down all at once," Harvey Orozco said.
Alba Orozco said her husband sent much of his money to his ailing mother in Colombia, leaving the family with few resources to bury him.
He will be cremated, and there will not be a memorial service because there isn't enough money to pay for it, she said.
Torres was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday on charges of murder and assault as a hate crime in the attack on Orozco.
He's also been charged with assault as a hate crime after admitted Monday to stabbing another man inside 9 Stanton St., near Bowery, on Sept. 12, sources said.
Torres claimed the 47-year-old man, who he worked on a demolition crew with, was blowing kisses at him, so he plunged his knife into the victim's left arm about 1:30 p.m., sources said.
That victim, whose identity was not immediately released, disputed Torres' claim, sources said. He was treated at Bellevue Hospital, cops said.
