The monster dad who allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter to burn alive in a car that was chained shut suffered burns to 70 percent of his body, making him unable to talk to investigators, police sources told The Post Tuesday.
Martin Pereira, 39, remains hospitalized and in “bad shape” in the burn unit of Weill Cornell Medical Center following the horrific Sunday incident in Queens that left Zoey Pereira dead, a high-ranking police source said.
Another source said Pereira, who suffered second and third-degree burns, is medically sedated.
“Even if he could talk, you wouldn’t want to talk to him because he’s sedated,” the source said.
Zoey’s gruesome death was ruled a homicide Monday, a day after the first responders extricated the toddler’s charred body out of a flaming Audi A6 parked in Springfield Gardens.
Sources told The Post Monday that Pereira is “absolutely” the prime suspect in the child’s death, though Pereira has not yet been formally charged.
Pereira — who was embattled in a bitter custody dispute with Zoey’s mom, Cherone Coleman – had threatened to hurt the child before he left the girl to burn in the gasoline-covered vehicle, sources said.
A Good Samaritan had spotted a flaming Pereira flee the car when he pulled over at 155th Street and Baisley Boulevard.
The man used a blanket to help put out Pereira’s burning clothes.
Pereira then jumped into a nearby park pond and tried to hide from police before he was ultimately taken into custody.
Medics rushed Zoey to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, but she could not be saved.
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