A man shot dead a block from his Brooklyn home was a father-to-be looking for a suburban home after increasing his salary as an electrician, his heartbroken family said Tuesday.
Jumaane Williams, 28, who performed electrical jobs on construction sites, appeared to be doing well until he was shot in the head on E. 32nd St. near Tilden Ave., a residential block in Flatbush, at 4 p.m. Monday.
Police sources report that the scene resulted in the seizure of two.380-caliber handguns, while the two individuals the victim engaged in combat fled and remain wanted.
Williams’ life changed when he found out he was expecting a child, and he even quit smoking marijuana to be more focused, according to his brother.
“He was on weed for years and he finally quit because of the baby,” said the brother, who did not want to be identified since the killer is still on the loose.
“He was turning his life around, got a better job. He was cleaning up the weed. He stopped smoking just so he could focus and get his head right. All the changes were coming and then this happened. The tower just tumbled and crashed down.”
Williams passed away immediately, just a block away from his residence and close to Holy Cross Cemetery. There is no connection between him and the public advocate of the same name in New York City.
The younger brother, 26, believes Williams must have been targeted because he was shot in the head, but he cannot understand why someone would want to kill him.
“All he does is work,” the brother said. “He just works and comes home. This happened all of a sudden.”
According to neighbors, the victim was on his way home from work when he stopped to help an elderly woman bring groceries into her home. He added that just as the woman was safe in her home, the gunfire rang out, resulting in Williams’s death.
“He walks that way all the time to come home from work,” the brother said. “If he believed he was in danger he probably would have changed route or just taken a cab or something. He wouldn’t just walk into immediate danger if he knew it would cost him his life.”
Williams leaves behind an elder sister.
“There were so many plans,” he said. “They were buying a house, moving out of this neighborhood. And then this happened.”
The sibling added that his brother’s pregnant girlfriend is distraught by the shooting.
“At this point all I can do is hold it together because when my mom comes tomorrow that’s going to be a different blow,” the brother said. “Then seeing his body, that’s going to be another blow. I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.”
According to authorities, one of the suspects wore a black hoodie and black pants, while the other wore a gray hoodie and black pants. In addition to the firearms, officers discovered five shot casings at the scene.
“His body was in the street behind a car,” a 35-year-old man who lives on the block and witnessed the aftermath told the Daily News.
A 26-year-old man tragically suffered a chest stab wound outside the Olgam Life Plasma Donation Center in Flatbush on Tuesday at around 10:20 a.m.
Medics took the man from the site on Flatbush Ave. at Avenue H to Kings County Hospital, where he died.
There were no immediate arrests following the incident. The police do not believe there is a connection between the two murders.