Community Mourns Flatbush Teen Stabbed To Death At Cornell University [Updated]

[Update 8/31 with additional photos below: Funeral announcement: “Please join us as we gather to say our final goodbye to Anthony Nazaire, a loving son, brother, uncle, nephew and friend.” The Viewing will be on Friday, September 9 from 4pm to 9pm at Harmony Funeral Home, 2200 Clarendon Road. The Funeral will be on Saturday, September 10 at 9am at Church of The Holy Innocents, 279 East 17th Street.]

Flatbush resident Anthony Nazaire, 19, was killed early Sunday morning at Cornell University, when several fights broke out at a fraternity orientation party.

Nazaire was stabbed several times at around 2am, as the center of the Cornell campus broke out into violence, police said. Medical personnel attempted to revive him for more than fifteen minutes and continued CPR efforts in the ambulance to no avail.

The teenager lived on Newkirk Avenue and was set begin his sophomore year at Ithica College this Wednesday, after spending the summer at home with his family, according to the Cornell Sun.

Friends, family and press gathered for a candlelight vigil on Monday, outside the brick apartment building on Newkirk Avenue where the Nazaire family lives. Nazaire’s mother and other relatives wept as they left to begin funeral preparations. A row of candles lined the block, and various residents and pedestrians stopped to gaze mournfully.

By Wednesday, the memorial had grown to include posters stuffed with baby pictures, handwritten messages from family and friends, flower bouquets, and a candle display spelling ANTHONY that trailed all the way down the block.

The display attracted groups of mourners and neighbors who stopped to reflect on Anthony’s life and his tragic death. Many had tears streaming down their faces, and recalled seeing him playing outside this very apartment.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “Now we have to pray for the mother, who is left to grieve. No mother should have to bury their child.”

Anthony Nazaire is remembered by those who knew him as an ambitious, smart, warm-hearted role-model. His ambitions started in the Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School in Canarsie, where his excellent performance scored him a scholarship to Ithaca College to study business, and pursue his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.

At Ithaca, Nazaire was on the executive board of the student organization, Brothers4Brothers, which is geared towards improving the lives of men of color on campus.

Mr. Nazaire, Anthony’s father, said he always stayed out of trouble, worked hard and served as a role model for the entire family.

“He was striving to be the greatest person,” said his sister Kiara Nazaire, 24, Monday on Newkirk Avenue, reports The New York Times. “They took that away from him…Everyone was looking up to him to make it. My heart is not only broken,” she said. “It was ripped out of my chest.”

“Less than one week he was here with us, today he’s gone,” the teen’s godfather, Jacques Dorsainvil, told the Daily News.

The Daily reports:

“What saddens me the most is he didn’t die here in Flatbush, but died away at school,” Nazaire’s cousin Chanelle Nazaire wrote in a series of Facebook posts Sunday. “I just wanted to go your graduation, I’m going to your funeral instead.”

Dorsainvil, 61, broke down in tears as he talked about the tragedy.

“God gave him gifts. He would hold me and tell me how good he was going to be,” Dorsainvil told the Daily News. “He was an intelligent man, polite with everyone. I don’t get it, why this happened to us. Everybody knows he’s a gift from God.”

Another student was stabbed during the brawl, but their identity has not been released. No arrests have been made yet, and no details on the murder weapon have been disclosed.

“I hope you will hold these students — along with their families, friends, classmates and professors — in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult and tragic time,” Ithaca College President Tom Rochon said in a statement.

Ithaca College has planned a vigil for Nazaire tonight at 4pm at Ithaca’s Muller Chapel. The Ithaca Police Department is investigating the incident, they said in a statement on Sunday.

Additional reporting by Michelle Inciarrano and Carly Miller.