A passionately religious Brooklyn grandfather lived in fear of his upstairs neighbor — who is now accused of stabbing him eight times in the chest and then bizarrely throwing his lifeless body into a car and driving him to the hospital.
Frederick Howard, 70, was stabbed by his 31-year-old neighbor about 1:10 a.m. Monday at the multi-family home they shared on E. 87th St. near Avenue M in Canarsie, according to cops. Josny Jean was charged with murder the following day.
Howard filed a complaint with the NYPD on Sept. 2, less than a week before he was killed, against Jean, which was being investigated as a case of criminal mischief, an NYPD source said. Part of Howard’s report to cops was that when he first tried to call police Jean snatched Howard’s phone to prevent him from making the call.
At the time of Howard’s slaying, the case was still being investigated by cops, the source said.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Frederick Howard was fatally stabbed on E. 87th St. in Brooklyn on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Howard had told neighbors he was worried cops weren’t taking the complaint seriously enough and that his life could be in danger.
“He asked the police, ‘Please do something about this boy because I don’t want him to kill me. And if something happens I don’t want to go to jail for anything if I have to protect myself,’” one neighbor, who asked to be referred to by his first name, Quinn, told the Daily News.
“He knew Friday when we sat out here and talked about it that something bad was gonna happen.”
And on Monday something bad did happen.
Surveillance footage recovered by investigators shows the pair arguing outside the house when Jean attacks Howard, who can be seen screaming as he falls to the ground, prosecutors said.
Jean can then be seen on video dragging Howard’s lifeless body into a car, before driving the victim to Brookdale University Hospital, prosecutors said. Startled hospital staff called the cops.
Police later recovered a bloody knife from the vehicle, court documents say.
Jean was arrested the day of the slaying and charged with murder and weapon possession. A judge ordered him held on $1 million bond during his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Tuesday night.
The elderly victim moved the into multi-family house after losing his wife to cancer about nine years ago, according to Quinn, who said Howard made a deal with his landlord to reside in a basement unit there in exchange for his services maintaining the property. He had previously lived with his wife down the block.
The devout Seventh Day Adventist is known in the neighborhood as “Preacher Man,” so called for the gospel music he played while cruising in his gold-painted Oldsmobile, Quinn said.
“Everybody in the neighborhood knew Mr. Howard because he would play his gospel music loud while he was driving home,” said Quinn. “Everybody called him Preacher Man.”
“He was a healthy person around the neighborhood,” he added. “Everybody loved him.”
But trouble started brewing for Howard about three years ago, when Jean, his landlord’s nephew, moved into the house’s upper floors and started giving him a hard time, neighbors said.
“He just harassed Mr. Howard for anything,” said Quinn. “It could be Mr. Howard putting out the garbage — (Jean) just wanted to rush past him. He tried to beat him up a couple of times.”
Howard also complained to neighbors that Jean failed to housetrain his dog, leaving Howard to clean up the mess.
“[The dog] was defecating inside the house, and then Mr. Frederick decided to build the dog a little dog house outside,” Quinn said. “He also got an awning to put over the shed so when it rains the dog won’t get rained on.”
“He spent his own money out of his pocket,” he added. “(Jean) didn’t give him no money for it, he just did it because he’s a nice guy.”
But Howard’s charity only invited further harassment from his neighbor, Quinn said.
“The guy started pressing him, ‘Yo, you better finish it up,’” Quinn said. “The guy is just a bully to the old man.”
Police records show that Jean was arrested on Feb. 11 for assault. The victim in that case was Jean’s mother, a law enforcement source said.
“(Jean) was violent towards his mother,” said the victim’s niece, who only gave her first name, Michelle. “Of course, Frederick would try to tell him that he should not be acting this way. (Frederick) is a man of Christ, he would refer him to go to church and stuff of that sort. He always saw the good in people.”
But Howard’s words of wisdom were lost on Jean, and tensions continued to escalate, Michelle said.
“It was (Jean) trying to snatch keys out of (Howard’s) hand and his cell phone, stuff of that sort. Trying to block him from going anywhere,” said Michelle. “He would walk past him and purposefully brush him with his shoulders.”
After reporting Jean’s alleged threats to police last week, Howard told friends he was disappointed in their response, saying he felt “brushed off,” another neighbor said.
“He went to the police department and they didn’t treat him well there,” said the neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. “He was shocked that the police kind of had that attitude, that if you don’t like what is happening, if you don’t feel safe, move.”
“If they had taken it more seriously at the precinct, probably this could have been avoided,” he added.
The victim’s niece said she wishes police had done more to protect her beloved uncle.
“Once someone tells you they feel like they’re in danger, especially in their own home, that should definitely be taken seriously,” said Michelle. “Precautions should be in place to make sure they’re separated from each other.”
Howard was an elder at Canaan Seventh-Day Adventist Church and preached at the Faith Church of God NYC on Glenwood Road near E. 56th St. A fellow minister there described his late colleague as the last person who deserved to meet a violent end.
“This is a very, very good man,” said Garvaskar Reid. “Very humble, loved to help people, to encourage people. He’s the type of person you’d want to see live a very long life and die of old age, going to sleep peacefully surrounded by family and friends — not being stabbed to death by some lunatic.”
The victim’s niece echoed the preacher’s concern.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “I was in disbelief over how he attacked him and how he reacted and how everything went down. It was crazy to me. I couldn’t believe that. How could somebody do that to a 70-year-old man?”
