By Matthew Monks
Tesfari Davis, 25, of 102-29 Nicolls Ave. was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment last Thursday, a day after police said his son gave a loaded .45-calibre pistol to a classmate at PS 16 in Corona. Five-year-old Christian Park's family was stunned when the boy removed the silver and gold handgun from his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack at dinner. “He was like, 'Look mom. Look what I brought. Look – I have a new toy,” the boy's brother Jose Gil, 13, said in phone interview. “I was like 'Oh, crap, it's a real gun.”Jose said he could see weapon's safety was off. “I was scared. He was surprised,” Jose said. The boy's mother, Eliose Marquez put the handgun in a plastic bag and called police. Little Christian did not understand that he did something wrong and froze under their questioning, Jose said. “He just started to cry,” Jose said. Police said Christian got the weapon from Tesfari Davis Jr., who removed it from a kitchen cabinet at home. His father was arraigned last Thursday in Queens Criminal Court, where Justice Fernando Camacho set bail at $25,000 and issued a return date of June 2, a spokesman with the Queens district attorney's office said. Davis faces up to 15 years in jail if he is convicted. His lawyer contested the charges. “Our client has entered a plea of not guilty,” said John Arlia of the Manhattan firm of Wenger & Arlia. “Fortunately, as per the DA, no one was harmed and the charges are excessive given the allegations in the (criminal) complaint.” Arlia would not comment on any other aspects of the case. Reach Matt Monks at news@timesledger.com or 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
