B’klyn fire vic’s death a homicide
A bighearted philanthropist found dead in the basement of his burning Brooklyn home was murdered, police said Tuesday.
Antonio Litman suffered puncture wounds to his neck and chest before someone set fire to his four-story brownstone on Adelphi St. near DeKalb Ave. in Fort Greene about 3:20 a.m. Monday.
Firefighters found Litman (inset) as they put out the blaze, authorities said.
The city medical examiner and the NYPD declared his death a homicide early Tuesday. FDNY fire marshals are working with detectives to determine how the fire was set and who is responsible. No arrests have been made. George Litman, the victim’s brother, said detectives recovered surveillance video that shows someone near his sibling’s home around the time the fire started. Cops were trying to track the man down.
“It’s someone who was close to him,” George Litman told the Daily News, adding that he was “not surprised” to learn that his brother’s death was being investigated as a murder.
“He had stab wounds to his neck,” the heartbroken Litman said. “They did what they did and took my brother’s life for no reason.”
The victim’s cousin, Kim Litman, said the killer “has to be someone truly evil.”
“He’s loved by everybody, so why would someone want to hurt him?” she asked. “Whoever did this, I want them to be locked up and get the death penalty. This is not right.”
Litman was the founder of Virginia’s House of Hope, which boasts it has distributed school supplies, food, clothing and educational toys to more than 10,000 New York families in need.
He spent the past 27 years working for International Registries, which deals with ocean vessel and corporate registration, a company spokeswoman said. He worked his way up to become the assistant to Clay Maitland, the managing partner who runs the New York office.
An 11-year-old girl died in a Brooklyn house fire while she was on a court-ordered visit with her parents, who were under investigation for abusing her, authorities said Tuesday.
The city’s Administration for Children’s Services had removed Shirr Teved from her home near the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Foster Ave. on the border of Midwood and Kensington, sources with knowledge of the case said.
But in the days before she died, Shirr was returned to her parents for a courtordered home visit, sources with knowledge of the case said.
Shirr was in her parents’ home when a fire broke out on its first floor at about 10:30 p.m. Monday.
“It was a hectic scene. It was horrific,” said Bernie Roth, 61, who lives in the neighborhood and watched first responders toss papers