Exclusive | Mom of slain Newark police detective Joseph Azcona mourns her beloved son afterdeadly shooting: That was my baby

The mother of slain Newark police detective Joseph Azcona tearfully recalled her lost son last night — and talked of the heartbreak she felt after learning the tragic news.“That was my baby.He always said he wanted to be a cop when he was little and when he grew up he took the test,” Martha Vargas, 56, told The Post on Saturday.Vargas said she was called to the hospital in the wee hours by her nephew, also a cop, but didn’t expect to see her son on his deathbed.“I thought it was something simple,” she said.“When I went to the hospital, he was like that.

They shot him in the head,” Vargas said with tears in her eyes.The mother of five said that she always worried about her youngest son due to the inherent risk of being a police officer.“He was always saying he wasn’t in danger,” she said of Joseph, who was born and raised in Newark, the city he died protecting.Vargas said she couldn’t believe the accused killer was just 14.“It’s crazy.It’s crazy.

A young kid,” she said, shaking her head.“Sometimes you can blame the parents but sometimes you can’t.You don’t know what they’re doing.

You cannot blame them.I don’t blame the parents, believe me,” Vargas told The Post.“You know how kids are when they get with other kids.”Besides the charged 14-year-old, four other individuals were taken into custody and questioned in relation to the incident.The alleged teen gunman was with a large group that was gathered near a McDonald’s and a White Castle in the north section of Newark, on Friday, when the barrage of bullets rang out, just after 6:30 p.m.Joseph Azcona died in the early hours of Saturday morning at University Hospital in Newark.Azcona’s injured partner is still recovering in that hospital — as is the 14-year-old alleged assailant, who was also struck by a bullet during the incident.Additional reporting by Shane Galvin...