If not for his vivid eye color, Andrew Maestre might not have been so easily fingered as the prime suspect in the first murder case of the year in the 52nd Police Precinct.

Known as “Green Eyes,” or “the man with green eyes,” Maestre, 24, is wanted for shooting two men, one of whom later died, while they sat in their car in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, near the corner of 198th Street and Valentine Avenue in North Fordham.

According to police, an argument between Maestre and another man over a woman escalated over the course of several hours that Saturday night, Feb. 23. Later, police said, the man Maestre was arguing with received a phone call from a friend who said Maestre was beating on his car, which was parked near the site of the shooting.

It’s unclear who Maestre was arguing with, but one of the victims, George Torres, 25, of Orlando, Florida, and another man, drove to the corner of 198th and Valentine, where the argument with the suspect escalated. At some point, according to police, Maestre took out a gun and fired at the victims. Torres was struck once in the back and the other man, whose identity police have yet to reveal, was struck in the leg.

Both victims were transported to the trauma center at St. Barnabas Hospital. The victim struck in the leg is expected to make a full recovery, but doctors pronounced Torres dead later that Sunday morning.

Monsignor John Jenik, the longtime pastor of Our Lady of Refuge, located two blocks from the crime scene, stumbled on the crime scene early that Sunday morning while jogging. For the past 25 years, Jenik has railed against the non-stop cycle of violence and drug dealing in his neighborhood. He initially assumed the shooting was drug-related.

Following the shooting, Jenik said it was widely suspected that “the man with green eyes,” Andrew Maestre, had committed the crime. He said Maestre was feared in the community and that many local residents had attributed other violent deeds to him.

Police said that Maestre had never been charged with a violent crime before this shooting, but had been picked up on smaller charges. The Bronx detective squad is now handling the search for Maestre. Aside from the green eyes, Maestre is described as being about 6-feet tall and 180 pounds. He drives a 1998 Red Lexus with the license plate number EAA567.

At this time last year, there were already three murders in the 52nd Precinct.