Tragic reveal: Died of stab, not crash

A 21-year-old Bronx man who died after he crashed his SUV on Friday had been fatally stabbed in the chest, police said Monday.

First responders, not realizing Jeramiah Hamilton had been stabbed, initially believed he had died as a result of the Friday crash in East Tremont.

Cops said Monday that Hamilton (photo) got into his SUV and sped off, apparently looking for help, after he was stabbed near his heart. There have been no arrests.

Hamilton’s Hyundai SUV rolled over two parked cars just before 8 p.m., landing on the driver’s side on Crotona Ave. near Fairmount Place, just four blocks from his home.

Medics rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.

Hamilton’s 23-yearold brother, who was in the passenger seat, escaped serious injury.

Neighbors and people who knew Hamilton said he may have bumped into another car. The occupants and others chased Hamilton and someone stabbed him, they speculated.

A relentless killer laid in wait Monday evening for a cabbie’s passenger in Brooklyn and opened fire, nearly killing the terrified driver, then chased his quarry down the block and executed him in the street.

The gunman, armed with a high-caliber weapon, was waiting for the 21year-old victim as his cab pulled up on Dean St. near Schenectady Ave. in Crown Heights about 6:10 p.m., police sources and the cab driver said.

The shooter fired at least eight bullets into the gunmetal blue Toyota Highlander, punching five holes into the rear door on the driver’s side and two more into the door’s window. Another bullet

“Instead of him leaving, they blocked him in and he couldn’t go and they stabbed him,” a woman who identified herself as Sandy said Saturday. “When he crashed it was because he was trying to make it to the hospital.”

Hamilton had no criminal record. He planned to work for Uber and other app-based rideshare companies, friends said.

The dead man’s neighbor, Maria Conyers, said she watched Hamilton grow up. He enjoyed football. “He always did what his mother told him to do,” she said. “It’s just a tragedy, but one day we will see him in heaven. Everybody got a number.”

A small memorial grew Saturday with notes of remembrance and candles. A man who identified himself as Dex, 40, leaned over to light a candle for Hamilton while walking his dog.

“Great kid,” he said. “I’ve seen him grow up. He was a great kid.” ripped through the roof.

“I just dropped him off and heard the shots. I saw the bullets go into his body,” said the rattled driver, Ibrhahim Jalloh. “I thought I was going to die. I don’t know the guy. I just picked him up.”

The wounded victim ran east for almost a block on Dean St., but the shooter chased him down and shot him again in the chest, sources said.

Medics rushed him to Kings County Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved. The driver was unhurt. “He was lucky,” a police source at the scene said.

Police have not yet released the victim’s name.