75-year-old man found beaten to death in Coney Island apartment
CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A 75-year-old man discovered dead in his Coney Island, Brooklyn, apartment was fatally beaten.
Donald Wallace was discovered dead inside the city-run Carey Gardens apartment complex at 2832 West 23rd Street on Thursday afternoon.
Police responded to a 911 call about a foul odor, indicating Wallace had been dead for some time.
An autopsy determined he died of blunt force trauma to the head and it has been ruled a homicide.
The apartment was not broken into and it did not appear anything had been stolen.
On Monday, friends said it was tough to wrap their heads around what happened.
"Shouldn't have died that way, because he was a very nice person, you could ask him for anything and he would give it to you, you know," said friend Milagros Correa.
Neighbors put up a memorial just steps away from where they say Wallace liked to sit on a park bench with his small dog -- a companion to keep him company after his wife died.
"I was speaking to him after she passed away and he was kinda heavy on the heart but a good person," friend Tamika Congress said.
Congress said he was trying to get his life back together.
"Beautiful person, friendly, you know... talked to everybody, you know, would go to the store for everybody and everything, it's just a tragedy," friend John Taylor said.
A memorial
No arrests have been made and there is no clear motive.
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