Queens man slain saving brother (Woodhaven, NY):

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

A gang of thugs slit the throat of a Queens pre-law student on July 30 when he ran to help his younger brother escape a beating on a Woodhaven subway station.

Police said Dario Paiva, 27, raced to help his 19-year-old brother after he received a frantic call from their mother saying the teen was being attacked near the 85th Street-Forest Parkway station on the elevated J line.

Cops said Khristian Paiva was walking home at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday night, talking on his cellphone with his mother when he ran into the thugs.

When the gang of four men, two women and a pit bull spotted Paiva, they stopped arguing with a woman on the street and turned their attention to the teen, police said. “They started following and threatening him with at least one knife,” police sources said.

Sources said one of the knife-wielding thugs shouted at Paiva, “I’m mad. I’m going to do something stupid.”

The man walked up to Paiva and threw a punch, the sources said. “The kid’s mother was listening to all this, so she sent his brother to help him.”

By the time Dario arrived at the scene the thugs had vanished into the subway station, police said. But the older brother insisted on following them so he could call 911 to report their actions.

When the brothers found the gang on the subway platform, the thugs pulled out yellow and black beads – a sign they were members of the Latin Kings street gang, police said.

“They turned on the brothers,” the sources said. “Dario started screaming, ‘Run, Run’, as one of the gang members approached Khristian. Dario ran to his brother and jumped in front of him and the thug stabbed him, slitting his throat.”

Khristian Paiva said he called 911 for help and the operator told him how to perform CPR on his brother. “He was foaming at the mouth,” Khristian said. “He died in my arms.”

Dario Paiva was pronounced dead on arrival at Queens Hospital Center a short while later.

Eyewitnesses told investigators the six suspects jumped onto the subway tracks and ran out of the station.

Police are asking anyone with information on the suspects to call the Crimestoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. The Hotline is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects..