Driven By Jealousy: Man Convicted In 2013 Fatal Stabbing In Flatbush

A young Flatbush man who believed a stranger was flirting with his girlfriend, and then stabbed the individual to death, has been convicted two years after the crime.

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced yesterday that 21-year-old Kadeem Wilkinson of Flatbush has been convicted of first-degree manslaughter for fatally stabbing 26-year-old Dwight Brathwaite in the back following a dispute inside a restaurant.

Wilkinson was convicted yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison when sentenced next month.

According to trial testimony, Wilkinson, his girlfriend and a stranger, Brathwaite, were inside Chicken Express at 1341 Flatbush Avenue on the evening of December 6th, 2013. After leaving the restaurant, Wilkinson returned and confronted Brathwaite about flirting with his girlfriend moments earlier. An argument ensued and it escalated into an altercation outside the restaurant, the DA’s office said.

Wilkinson then ran home, grabbed a knife, and came from behind Brathwaite who was walking toward his house on East 26th Street, near Foster Avenue. Wilkinson fatally stabbed Brathwaite in the back at about 12:45 a.m., the DA’s office said.

Video surveillance captured Wilkinson running into his building and leaving shortly thereafter, along with part of the stabbing incident itself, the DA’s office said. Wilkinson’s girlfriend also testified that he admitted to her that he had stabbed Brathwaite in anger.