Gunman arrested in New York after stray bullet kills 15-year-old Faridun Mavlonov

Police have captured a gunman they blame for the stray gunshot fatality of a 15-year-old Brooklyn boy last summer — but the slain boy's father said he is still heartbroken despite his arrest.

” Nothing has changed. That doesn't bring him back. This doesn’t bring (my) son back,” said Firdavs Mavlonov, whose son Faridun was shot and killed on a Bensonhurst street after an argument at school escalated into gunfire on July 17, 2023.

“I feel a little better, but it's the same, you don't take… my son. It's very hard.”

Suspect Leopoldo Nash Montoya, 18, was arrested earlier this month in Panama and extradited to the Big Apple on Thursday to face a second-degree murder case, police said Friday.

The teenager said nothing and kept his head down as he was led by cops out of the 62nd Precinct in a yellow polo shirt to await arraignment. Police have not given details about how they found him.

Shortly after learning of the arrest, Firdavs Mavlonov told the Post he would “go crazy” if he came face to face with the alleged killer.

“I would tell him, ‘You killed my son,’” the grieving father said. “He will go to prison and will not be [go back] ” Outside. If he was outside, he would have killed other children. For nothing, he killed my son. It's very stressful. Very difficult. »

Police say Mavlonov was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when the James Madison High School student was shot to death in broad daylight by the gunman, who was targeting another boy he had fought with at Franklin Delano High School Roosevelt.

The two men agreed to meet after school for a fight, but Montoya allegedly pulled out a gun as soon as he saw his rival and opened fire, hitting Mavlonov who was walking with the intended target and three other youths.

Friends said Mavlonov dreamed of becoming a professional UFC fighter, but abhorred street violence.

“He wouldn’t use violence against a situation,” a friend of the victim said last year. “I remember calling him to break up a fight… He didn’t want to fight. What he did was settle the problem, that’s all.”

“He was like a big brother to everyone,” the friend added. “He looked out for them.”

The 15-year-old high school student, the eldest of six children, was born in Uzbekistan and came to the United States 10 years ago.

Montoya, of Gravesend — who was staying with relatives in the Central American country when he was apprehended by U.S. Marshals and the Regional Fugitive Task Force on June 5 — was also charged with attempted second-degree murder, attempted first-degree gang assault, second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree assault for the killing, cops said.

“We'll see when the trial starts,” the young victim's father said. “We'll see how many years they give him.”

“I really thank everyone,” he added. “The mayor, the detectives, the media. Everyone, thank you.”