Even at night, Avenue K in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn is a quiet, whisper of a neighborhood - a tree-lined respite from the hustle and danger of the city, and so the senseless murder that happened here last Wednesday, has rattled everyone.
"He was a family man, he was a church man. He would do anything to help anybody. He would give you the shirt off his back," said Peter Jones, a friend of the victim.
Nathaniel Thomas III was 45 years old. He sang in a church choir and took care of his sick mother.
He was stabbed to death near his home by a man police say Thomas had a minor dispute with a year ago.
Police have surveillance camera video that shows Thomas being stabbed multiple times.
Neighbors were so shaken by it all, they wouldn't appear on camera.
"I saw a gentleman pacing back and forth with a knife, somebody who had a severe tantrum," one witness said. "He used his black hoodie to cover his hand which was covered in blood."
Police said Thomas and the suspect, a neighbor of his named Shakel Moldonado, had a dispute last year over the volume of some music.
On Wednesday, Thomas was on his way to a nearby store when he saw Moldonado on the street.
"This is a terrible loss... over something so minor that could've been talked out. There's all kinds of solutions. It didn't have to come to this," Jones said.
Moldonado was arrested at the scene.
He is charged with murder and has been held without bail.
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