She prays for 'Sopranos' star & officer

Domenica Brancato remembers the four words that have changed her life.

"Something happened to Lillo," her husband said.

She had been sound asleep in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005. She had last seen her son a few hours back, when he was awakened by a phone call.

"Steven [Armento] called my son to go out," she recalled tearfully. "He went and never came home again."

It has been nearly a year since Lillo Brancato, who appeared in the movie "A Bronx Tale," and HBO's "The Sopranos," allegedly killed off-duty cop Daniel Enchautegui in the Bronx.

Brancato didn't pull the trigger; his friend, Armento, 49, did. But the 30-year-old actor is charged with murder because the shooting occurred during the commission of another felony. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

"Lillo Brancato did nothing wrong that night," said defense attorney Joseph Tacopina. "My client is innocent, and his story is corroborated by witnesses and ballistic evidence."

"Lillo didn't have a gun, There was no burglary, Lillo never even went into the house, he did not enter the dwelling or commit a crime inside."

Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, thinks otherwise. Accompanied by dozens of cops at each court date, he has branded Brancato a "cold-blooded killer."

"Do not be fooled by the Hollywood and the drama this star is going to produce," said Lynch. "This is a drug-addicted, cop-killing team."

But beyond lawyers and angry police union officials, there is a mother who sees only a son.

Domenica, 55, says she continually prays for Lillo - but also prays for Enchautegui and his family. "There is a young officer who died, and my son is in jail," she told the Daily News. "I pray for the officer and his family as well as Lillo. This situation is very tragic and very sad."

If her prayers are answered, Brancato's son will return home to Yonkers cleared of the murder charge.

"My son did not shoot anyone," Domenica insisted after attending a recent court hearing with husband, Lillo Sr., 59.

"I believe he was at the wrong place at the wrong time," she added. "He's not a tough guy, he's a mushy lamb."

The actor says he didn't know Armento, a convicted junkie, had a gun when prosecutors say they broke into an apartment next to Enchautegui's Pelham Bay home on Dec. 10 in search of drugs.

When Enchautegui confronted them, Armento shot him, according to prosecutor Terri Gotlieb. The 26-year-old officer returned fire, wounding Armento and Brancato, who had dated Armento's daughter Stephanie.

Soon after the shooting, the actor's mother said police officers converged on her Yonkers home. They wanted to search Lillo's room, and she let them because she "had nothing" to hide.