A father of four from Brooklyn was tragically killed during a visit to the NYCHA complex where he spent his childhood, his grieving former partner reports.
Kevin Coleman, 48, had returned to the Langston Hughes Houses, located near Sutter and Thatford Avenues in Brownsville, to catch up with friends. It was there, around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, that he was fatally stabbed. The suspect has yet to be apprehended.
“Regardless of everything, Kevin had an unwavering love for me and our kids,” shared Saywon Ware, 44, Coleman’s former partner and the mother of his three youngest children. “He would go to any lengths for his family and children.”
Police officers arrived in response to a 911 call to discover Coleman lying faceup in a pool of blood, with a knife beside him under the scaffolding at the entrance of one of the Hughes Houses buildings.
Although he was conscious and able to speak, Coleman chose not to assist law enforcement by identifying his attacker, according to police sources.
“He would never incriminate anyone who harmed him,” explained his former partner. She attributed this to his “jail mentality.”
Coleman, who went by the nickname “Five,” was sentenced to up to 6½ years in prison for a Brooklyn assault conviction and was released on parole in March 2024, records show.
Medics rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital, where he later died.
Ware rushed to the hospital, where she heard Coleman alert and speaking to doctors but wasn’t allowed to see him, she says.
“I asked him, ‘Can y’all just let him know I’m here? Just let him know he’s not by his self. He so used to being by himself, just tell him he’s not by himself.’ They wouldn’t even tell him,” Ware said.
Coleman and Ware broke up about a month ago, leading Coleman to move out of her East New York home, Ware said. He was staying with cousins in Far Rockaway, Queens, when he was killed
Visiting the Hughes Houses where he grew up was part of Coleman’s usual routine. “He always go back there,” Ware said.
Coleman leaves behind a 20-year-old daughter, 17-year-old son, 15-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old daughter.
“He was a very good father,” Coleman’s 15-year-old daughter said. “He made sure his kids was OK. Even if he wasn’t, he made sure we was OK.”
“He was caring. He was overprotective,” Coleman’s 17-year-old son said. “He ain’t have a lot of money, but the money he would make he would instantly give it to us.”
The 73rd Precinct that includes the Hughes Houses has seen a sharp decrease in homicides this year, with four slayings through Nov. 16 compared with 19 during the same timeframe last year, a 79% drop. Citywide, homicides are down to historic lows, with 275 murders so far this year, compared with 346 by this point last year, a 21% drop.
