Two dead, including pregnant woman, in triple shooting inside Staten Island home

Police investigate a double homicide at 376 Grandview Avenue in Staten Island, New York on Monday, May 11.

A pregnant woman and her boyfriend were killed, and another woman was wounded, in a brazen shooting inside a Staten Island home Monday, police and relatives said. A toddler escaped injury.

Gunfire exploded inside the private home on Grandview Ave. near Brabant St., across the street from the Mariners Harbor Houses, about 5:15 p.m., officials said.

That’s when 45-year-old Phillip Moreno — a convicted killer who gunned down a man in the Mariners Harbor Houses when he was 17 — burst into the home with a silenced .22-caliber Ruger, police sources said.

When cops arrived they found Alafia (Laf) Rodriguez, 46, and his 33-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Ana DeSousa, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Alafia (Laf) Rodriguez and his 33-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Ana DeSousa (both pictured), were shot dead Monday, May 11, in Staten Island, New York.

A woman shot in the back was taken to Richmond University Medical Center and is expected to survive, police said.

Police caught Moreno as he was trying to leave the gruesome scene. He was still carrying the gun, NYPD Asst. Chief Kenneth Corey said.

Investigators are looking into the possibility the bloodbath was the result of a drug-related robbery gone wrong, and cops found crack cocaine in the home. Rodriguez has a history of past drug arrests.

The .22 caliber Ruger used to shoot three people in Staten Island, New York on Monday, May 12. (NYPD)

Relatives told the Daily News the slain victims were a couple and at least one of their children, a 20-month-old girl named Blue, was home at the time of the stunning attack.

“He was a great father and an even better man,” said Rodriguez’s mother, Cheryl. “Ana was a wonderful mother. Everything they did was about their kids. We’re heartbroken.”

Police investigate a double homicide at 376 Grandview Avenue in Staten Island, New York on Monday, May 11. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

Rodriguez’s sister, who would not give her name, said the family was stunned by the killings.

“We’re just trying to keep it together right now,” she said.

Mario Gallucci, Rodriguez’s longtime criminal defense attorney and friend, said the couple got together about four years ago, and were expecting their second child together.

“Laf was my first client. I speak to him on a weekly basis, him and Ana,” Gallucci said. “Laf is definitely someone I would consider a friend. He reached out to my wife and I to see how we were doing with the coronavirus, so he is much more than a client.”

Police investigate a multiple homicide at 376 Grandview Avenue in Staten Island, New York on Monday, May 11. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

Rodriguez called Gallucci Saturday night, and the two chatted about going to visit Gallucci for a summer barbecue once the coronavirus lockdown ends.

“They just had the baby last year,” he said. "The baby they had was beautiful. It’s just a senseless, senseless tragedy.”

Nicole Carter, 22, the niece of the woman who survived, said the couple owned the house.

“I don’t know who the man is,” Carter said of the person in custody. “Police picked him up outside the house. Then they took the youngest girl, Baby Blue, to the hospital. She’s about to be 2."

Alafia (Laf) Rodriguez and Ana DeSousa had two other young daughters, relatives said.

The victims had two other young daughters, relatives said.

Charges against Moreno are pending, though he’s retained a lawyer. He and Rodriguez are friends on Facebook.

"The situation is fluid. I’ve shut down any questioning of my client,” said his lawyer, Mark Fonte. "I’m still attempting to assess the situation.”

On July 12, 1992, Moreno shot and killed 22-year-old Theodis Watson on Brabant St., cops said. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and was paroled in 2007, but returned to prison on drug and gun charges the next year. He was most recently released to parole in 2017.