By Sophia Chang
But his dreams were cut short Sunday when the sixth-grader died in a head-on car crash while driving with his family upstate, according to officials.”I'm just in so much pain,” said his mother Rosina Leto in a phone interview Tuesday. “He's my little angel.”Leto was driving north on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County Sunday morning with Antonio, his twin sister Angelica and grandmother Concetta Maruca to the family's Catskills home when a southbound Ford Explorer, driven by 21-year-old Natasha Barham of Orange County, jumped the guardrail divider and crashed into the Leto family's Mercury Mountaineer in a high-speed collision, according to state police.Barham told police she lost control of the vehicle. She was charged with having a suspended registration, and Tarrytown State Police investigator Noel Nelson said Barham was possibly facing other charges. The investigation was ongoing.While Antonio was wearing his seatbelt, Rockland County police said he may have been wearing it improperly under his arm. The Rockland County medical examiner, Dr. Lore Thanning, ruled that Antonio died from massive internal injuries.Leto suffered a chipped arm bone, while Maruca suffered a broken wrist and leg. Antonio's twin sister Angelica had cuts that required stitches around her eyes and nose.Barham was not seriously injured in the accident, but her sister Janaina Barham suffered two broken legs, Rockland County police said.Antonio, an avid basketball player who attended Sacred Heart of Bayside before moving to PS 162 in Bayside Hills, loved the trips to his family cabin, his mother said.”He was looking forward to riding his four-wheeler,” Leto said. And when Antonio graduated from PS 162 last year, he was thrilled to be in the big leagues at MS 74, Leto said.”He called it junior high school, not middle school,” she said. “'I'm in junior high school now,' he said.”Friends and family said Antonio's kind and happy spirit would be missed.”He was the gentlest little boy in the world,” said Zeida Rohrs, mother of Antonio's friend Christopher Jimenez. Rohrs said Antonio and her son, classmates at both PS 162 and MS 74, had a tightly knit group of friends she referred to as the “Rat Pack.””He was the kind of kid that all he wanted was to have his friends around him all the time,” Rohrs said. “That's all he ever wanted.””He was a nice kid,” Christopher said, recalling sleepovers when his buddy would come over, make popcorn and play video games together.”He cared about everybody's feelings. He was always the first one to help somebody and he was always caring with his mom,” said Daniela Maruca, Leto's sister. “If his mom was upset, he wouldn't want anybody near her. He was very protective.”Calls placed to Antonio's father Vito Leto, who lives on 161st Street in Fresh Meadows, were not returned.Antonio's mass was scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at St. Kevin's Church at 45-21 194th St. in Flushing, followed by a funeral at St. Raymond's in the Bronx.Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
