THE BRONX — Two brothers were charged with manslaughter Tuesday for beating a homeless man to death as he slept on the steps of a Fordham church because they said he had slapped their father, sources said.
Surveillance video shows the brothers — Angel Monegro, 17, and Noel Martinez, 24 — kicking and stomping on the head of Miguel Dircio, 41, as he slept on the steps of St. Nicholas Tolentine Church, 2345 University Ave., about 10 p.m. June 19, police said.
Dircio suffered brain and skull injuries. He was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center in critical condition, the NYPD said. He was pronounced dead on June 28, police said.
The brothers told police they attacked Dircio because earlier that night he argued with their father at a Fordham Road restaurant over a bottle of alcohol and then slapped the patriarch in the face, sources said.
Monegro and Martinez, who share an address in University Heights, were arrested Tuesday and arraigned on manslaughter charges, officials said. They were both remanded into custody and are due back in court Thursday, prosecutors said.
"We're grateful for all the work and cooperation to bring justice to this point," the church said in a statement on its Facebook page.
"When one reflects on the meaning of the church doors symbolizing the portico to heaven, one hardly imagines it being a place of murder," another post read.
The brothers had been with a third man who was still being sought Wednesday morning, but it was not immediately clear if he participated in the assault on Dircio, an NYPD spokesman said.
Monegro was previously arrested for two robberies and Martinez had five marijuana-related arrests, an NYPD spokesman said.
