Jonathan Lewis came to honor his slain friend Michael Ikoli as a mourner, and left as a murder victim.

In a case of deadly déjà vu, the Bronx man was gunned down at a memorial vigil for a friend killed nearly one year earlier on the same corner.

Michael IkoliLewis, 22, was shot twice in his torso Wednesday night as he honored slain friend Michael Ikoli, killed last May near his Webster Avenue home by a gunman who remains on the streets.

The remorseless shooter was captured cowering beneath a van on East 187th Street, and a .38-caliber handgun was recovered at the murder scene, police said.

Lewis, a calm, churchgoing man who swore off the street life, was warned by at least one friend that the vigil was fraught with gang-related peril.

Lewis died on the ride to St. Barnabas Hospital, the same facility where Ikoli was DOA on May 3, 2011, after taking four bullets.

Over 60 people lit candles at the outdoor memorial for Ikoli, who would have turned 25 on Wednesday. But the quiet vigil was interrupted by a blast of gunfire around 10:30 p.m.

Witnesses said the shooter asked one mourner, “What’s up?” before opening fire on Lewis, who staggered into the street and collapsed.

Murder suspect Darrell Patillo, 18, offered cops a bogus excuse about a Facebook feud when asked about the killing, the victim’s family said — but Lewis did not have a Facebook page.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call the NYPD‘s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1800577TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 188857PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers‘ website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

All tips will be kept strictly confidential.

Avatar
Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.