WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Graphic footage shows the moment a naked man was fatally stabbed just outside the lobby of an apartment building in Brooklyn on Friday, a grisly murder that comes as violent crime continues to skyrocket in the Big Apple.

Vitor Bauza, 56, was charged on Saturday with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the gruesome murder of Ernest Diaz, 40.

Diaz was found on the ground at 303 99th Street in Bay Ridge around 2:50 p.m. Friday, with multiple stabs to the chest and stomach, according to the NYPD. He was brought to Lutheran Hospital at NYU Langone shortly after his discovery, where he was pronounced dead. 

Diaz reportedly lived with Bauza. A custodian who saw the pair in the lobby told the New York Post: ‘Whoever did this really wanted him dead. He had stab wounds all over the place.’ Neighbors said Diaz took the elevator from the fifth floor and stumbled out.

Bauza, who initially fled the scene, turned himself in to the cops the following day, police said.  

Vitor Bauza, 56 (left), allegedly stabbed Ernest Diaz, 40, right outside of the lobby of an apartment complex in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on Friday

A dreadlocked man can be seen in the CCTV footage following Diaz – covered in blood – back into the building and stabbing him before fleeing and then returning once more to stab the victim what appears to be several more times.

The victim is later seen collapsing to the floor. 

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Edgar Walker ordered Bauza to be held without bail until his next court appearance on December 3. 

Speaking outside of a Brooklyn courthouse on Sunday, Bauza’s lawyer Arthur Aidala confirmed that his client had known Diaz ‘for a very, very long time,’ and called the gruesome murder ‘an aberration’ and ‘so out of character for him.

When reached for further comment on Tuesday, Aidala refused to answer DailyMail.com’s questions.

‘He’s a very decent human being who was apparently involved in an incident that took seconds,’ Aidala had told the New York Post. ‘It’s not like he’s a violent person or an aggressive person in any way, shape, or form.  

Bauza’s family, who attended court, refused to comment on the case and snapped at reporters on their way out.

‘He’s my nephew,’ Bauza’s aunt said. ‘He’s a good person.’      

The man was without clothes and suffering from multiple stab wounds in the chest and stomach

A man was found stark naked and bleeding after being stabbed multiple times in the lobby of an apartment building in New York City in broad daylight Friday

 The grim scene, captured by photographers, showed blood smeared all over the doors on the entrance to the building

Prab Singh, 31, who runs a liquor store nearby, told the New York Daily News that the victim ‘came out from the apartment building naked.’ 

‘I looked outside and the guy was just sitting at the front door covered in blood, just red all over,’ Singh said. ‘One of our clients called the police and ran to help him and bring him back inside, but was unsuccessful when she tried to move him.  

Blood was all over the doors on the entrance to the building by the time NYPD arrived on the scene.

The stabbing comes as New York City continues to see an increase in crime, particularly violent incidents.

As of November 28, overall crime in NYC was up 2.61 percent, according to NYPD data. Murders, however, had decreased by 1.2 percent when compared to October 2020. 

Robbery was up 3.7 percent and felony assault rose by 9 percent, when compared to October of last year. 

Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio has blamed the courts for New York City’s skyrocketing crime numbers as he touted a small decrease in the murder rate while ignoring an 11 percent jump in overall crime over October 2020.  

‘In this city, real change is happening. We’ve got more to do for sure but real change is happening,’ de Blasio said during a recent press conference. ‘It’s about precision policing, it’s about neighborhood policing, these approaches work.’   

As of November 28, overall crime in NYC was up 2.61 percent, according to NYPD data. Murders, however, had decreased by 1.2 percent when compared to October 2020

He was discovered out in front of The Dorset Apartments on 99th Street and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn around 2:50 p.m. Friday, according to police 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk