An alcoholic ex-US marine has been arrested for blasting his adult son in the chest with a shotgun after he tried to help him give up the booze.

The victim Joseph Leone Jr, 29, was shot dead outside his father’s house on Staten Island in New York City on New Year’s Eve, after he had travelled there from South Carolina to help his dad give up his alleged drinking problem.

The victim’s wife Kimberly Leone said: “He went up there to help his daddy recover from alcoholism. Joseph always told me ‘I don’t want to be like my dad’.”

She added: “And he still tried to help him.”

Joseph Leone Sr, 57, is accused of shooting his son on the pavement outside his home in Rosebank at around 7.25pm.

The 29-year-old man was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, but succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind three children. The victim had also served in the US Army for the last two years.

According to the criminal complaint, the suspect, who had also served in the US Armed Forces as a marine, admitted to committing the crime, telling officers: “That shotgun in the garbage can, that’s the one I shot him with.”

The police reportedly discovered two shotguns as well as a box of shotgun shells and several containers with .44-caliber and .45-caliber ammunition in the house.

Legal Aid Society spokesperson S. Maquita Moody said: “Joseph Leone (Sr) is a former US Marine with no criminal record. He is presumed innocent, and we caution the public from making any rush to judgment.”

The suspect faces charges for second-degree murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon as the investigation continues.