The Bronx couple slain along with their 5-year-old son were on a “paint and sip” date night hours before they were found stabbed to death at home — and police are eyeing a relative as the suspected killer, sources said Monday.
Law enforcement sources said cops have a person of interest — a relative, who has not yet been arrested — in connection to the triple murder that has left friends of Jonathan Rivera and his girlfriend Hanoi Peralta grappling for answers.
“What happened to them doesn’t make any sense,” family friend Eusebio Baez said outside the Mott Haven apartment building where the bodies of the couple and their young son, Kayden Rivera, were discovered on Sunday morning.
“The night before, I spoke to [Jonathan Rivera]. He was at a paint and sip with his girlfriend … They posted on social media having a good time,” Baez, 33, told reporters.
“He was showing everyone, ‘Look how much better her painting is than mine.’ They were both happy.”
Rivera, 38, was a doting father who spoiled little Kayden and devoted all his time to reuniting with the boy’s mom, Peralta, 33, before their tragic deaths, Baez said.
All three were found stabbed multiple times inside Peralta’s apartment building around 6:40 a.m. Sunday, less than 12 hours after the couple’s night out.
Rivera worked two jobs — including as a janitor at his son’s Bronx school — to support the boy and Peralta and spent all his time and money to ensure both were happy, Baez said.
The couple split about a year ago but had begun dating again in recent months to try to patch up their relationship, he added.
Baez said Rivera, whom he had known for over 20 years, had been living with his father elsewhere in the Bronx but would spend more and more time at Peralta’s apartment.
“She lived here but he’d come over to babysit the kid, clean the house and make sure everything was good when she got home from work,” he said. “He used to bring her out when we had parties and little get-togethers. She was a sweetheart.
“He was so proud of her,” Baez added. “He loved that woman so much. He worked his ass off just for his kids and spent any little money he had left over. He would spoil her.”
He called Rivera “a sweet guy with a golden heart.”
The last message he received from his old friend came at 7 p.m. Saturday, less than 12 hours before police responding to a 911 call made the grisly discovery.
Baez said Kayden was the youngest of Rivera’s four children, with two older daughters who live in Connecticut and a son who is attending Oswego College upstate on a scholarship.
“Jonathan was never in trouble,” he said. “He barely had time. His free time was spent on his kids and snowboarding. He’s not even a guy who goes to bars or anything. He had his first IPA last year.
“The dude, I’m telling you, was a solid man.”
He recalled the slain youngster as “energetic” and “a little sassy.”
He said Rivera would spoil the youngster, and said “40% of that living room was catered to his son’s toys.
“He loved chicken nuggets,” Baez said. “He loved Happy Meals at McDonald’s. Just a regular 5-year-old who definitely didn’t deserve what happened.”
“He would spend so much money on toys for his kid,” Baez said. “Any toy he wanted — Sonic, Ironman. I’m getting goosebumps. He cared for that kid so much.”