Marco Tapia’s family breaks silence after mistaken identity murder

The mother of the star Sydney university student shot dead in a case of mistaken identity has recalled the moment she held her “beautiful” son in her arms as he took his final breath.

Marco Tapia, 23, was killed in bed at his Glen Alpine residence in the early hours of September 1 after a group of assailants stormed his family home and sprayed bullets at him. It would become the first of three underworld shootings in Sydney’s escalating gangland war.

Parents Sergio and Claudia recounted the “nightmare” attack that claimed their son’s life, telling A Current Affair on Monday the violent onslaught happened “so fast”.

“I remember him taking his final breath,” Claudia said. “There was hate that came to our house.”

Sergio said the attack had been forever etched in their memories: “It’s amazing I didn’t have a heart attack when that happened … when you close your eyes is when you see everything again and again, and again and again.”

Marco’s sister, Cassie, will be without her “big little brother” when she gets married in November. Invitations for her nuptials were due to be sent the day he was killed.

“He’s my best friend, and the fact he’s not going to be there as one of the groomsmen is heartbreaking,” she said. “He was just such a warm person.”

But the Tapia family has chosen peace over anger, suggesting they could one day forgive the people behind Marco’s death.

“I thought in this situation I would be seeing fire and brimstone and looking for vengeance. Certainly, there’s no anger in our heart. If you have anger, you cannot have peace in your heart,” Sergio said.

“Right now we are striving for peace, and forgiveness will come.”

Tapia was in his third year of a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Technology Sydney, where he won awards and volunteered for Engineers Without Borders. His only known brush with the law came in the form of a minor traffic offence.

Tapia’s death marked the first of two mistaken identity murders orchestrated by Sydney’s underworld in as many days.

Joshua Macdonald, 40, was shot dead in the doorway of a Merrylands West duplex home one day after Tapia’s murder as he arrived at the home with two children.

The owners of the residence, where Macdonald didn’t live, are known to police and linked to organised crime.

The attacks triggered the NSW government’s third significant crackdown on organised crime in two years as it worked to stave off suggestions it had lost control of Sydney’s streets.

The reforms, announced by Premier Chris Minns on September 7, promised tighter targeting of offshore kingpins and local middle men orchestrating violent attacks and tougher penalties for teenagers carrying out gang-related shootings and firebombings.

Then Louis Meehan, a 32-year-old boxing coach linked to the Alameddine crime family, was shot dead in an ambush at a Punchbowl carpark on September 9, two days after the suite of reforms was unveiled.

Meehan, known to police, was sprayed with gunfire by an assailant who fled in a silver Lexus and died in the carpark while onlookers prayed for his welfare.

Escalating underworld violence comes as the warring Alameddine crime family and Coconut Cartel jostle for control of Sydney’s lucrative drug trade.

Powerbrokers for both groups are living overseas, where they’re believed to be orchestrating criminal activities away from Australian jurisdiction.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.