A party, fireworks, music — then a brawl leaves a young Queens dad dead

A Queens man stabbed to death during a fight that broke out after a July 4 weekend fireworks celebration was killed trying to protect his buddies, a family friend told the Daily News.

Jonathan McFarlane, 25, and two of his friends were stabbed during a bloody brawl near the corner of Sutphin Blvd. and 112th Ave. in South Jamaica around 1:50 a.m. July 5, according to police.

One of the victims told a relative that they were trying to walk away from a confrontation when someone pulled out a knife.

Family friend Annamarie Burton said that makes sense.

“Jonathan tried to protect my son because they’re like brothers. He tried to protect my son. I know it. I just know he did. And the other kid tried to stop it from happening.”

Cops said McFarlane was stabbed in the chest. All three victims were rushed to Jamaica Hospital, McFarlane died.

McFarlane lived about a 10-minute walk for where he died, police and relatives said. No arrests have been made, police said, though an image of the suspect was released Friday.

“They said they didn’t know who it was,” Burton, 56, said.  “My son said, ‘Ma, I was in a daze, but Jonathan is gone.”

Among those left empty by McFarlane’s death is a 4-month-old daughter born after McFarlane’s own father died in March.

Relatives said McFarlane, a FedEx delivery driver, doted on the girl, and lamented that she never got to meet her grandfather.

Now she’ll grow up without her daddy, too.

“He has this young child, said McFarlane’s cousin, Michael Sinclair. “It’s a sad story. He got his 4-month-old daughter and then his father died 4-months ago. When his baby was born, his father was dying.“It was so hard to hear what happened. It just tore me up. It just tore me up. He was a good kid.”

He was also a great dad, his family said.

“He was excited,” the baby girl’s mother said. “He picked her up every single day.”

Relatives said McFarlane went out with his buddies to celebrate Independence Day, and joined with a crowd of revelers lighting fireworks a few blocks from his home.

”They’re all around the same age. They all went to school together,” Burton said. “They were just hanging out. They were just spending time together because they don’t get to as much because they’re busy They’re now adults who knew each other since they were children.”

The victim’s childhood friend, Amaniya Aiken, 24, remembered McFarlane, who went by “Jayo,” as a kind, charismatic guy who loved playing dice.

“He always stayed clean, hair done. He always had his friends backs. He loved [the dice game] Cee-lo. He loved winning money. He wins all the time, he’s been winning since he was in middle school,” said Aiken, 24, who met McFarlane in middle school.

Aiken said a friend of hers was at the 4th of July celebration an hour before the violence erupted.

“She said everybody was having a good time. It looked like everybody was playing, enjoying themselves. They were playing Cee-lo,” Aiken said.

The longtime friend said it seemed out of character for McFarlane to get involved in arguments, but could picture him standing up for a friend.

“Jonathan didn’t really fight. He wasn’t the type. Somebody would argue with him, they’d argue with themselves, because he’s just not going to put his energy into it,” she explained. “If it was his friend, something he’s going through, I’m pretty sure he’ll be like, ‘Yo what are you doing? Like chill out.’”

Aiken said she woke up Saturday morning to an alert on Citizens app about the stabbing, unaware that it was her longtime friend until her brother texted her, breaking the news.

“It’s very hard for everybody because Jonathan’s not here any more.” Burton said, adding that he used to come over to her house to play video games.

“I hope they fully catch him. He gets prosecuted to the full extent of the law because that’s my baby,” Burton said. “I mean, they’re all my babies, but my heart right now is so broken about Jonathan because I can’t hug him no more. I can’t say ‘I love you’ no more.”