Lavel Fraiser Obituary, Death – A cherished father of 13 children who rescued his family from a house fire caused by their landlord was fatally shot outside a Brooklyn brownstone early Sunday morning in what appears to be a deliberate attack. Lavel Fraiser, 40, also known as “Flip,” was ambushed and shot in the torso by a group of gunmen who were waiting for him, according to neighbors and the police. Police discovered Fraiser in the backyard of a building on 673 Sterling Place shortly after 1 a.m.
“He was shot outside in front. He managed to make his way all the way to the back. He was hiding back there,” said John Williams, the building’s superintendent, who has known Flip for about seven years. “I don’t know what the motive was. He was a kind man.”
Williams, who witnessed Flip being taken away on a stretcher by EMS, pleaded with him, saying, “Please live!” “The shooters were waiting for him. They arrived in a car here in front,” Williams explained. “Everyone knows Flip. He’s a good person.”
Fraiser’s wife, Andriana, 28, described him as a “superhero” father to their 13 children, four of whom they shared. She recounted how he bravely saved their family from their previous apartment when their landlord allegedly set the building on fire due to one tenant’s unpaid rent.
“He saved me and my children’s lives. We were in a house fire last September,” she said. “He saved all of us, me and my six children.” She added, “He was a good man. He was incredibly humble. He had a positive energy. He had his own business. He was very intelligent.”
Neighbors attested that Fraiser was not one to engage in trouble. According to Williams, he always maintained peace. Fraiser succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, as confirmed by the police. Christopher McCarthy, 46, who resides down the block, revealed that he was a friend of the victim and was the one who dialed 911.
“He was in the back. Outside in the back. He was sitting on the ground. He had been shot,” McCarthy recounted. “So I asked Flip if he was okay, and he didn’t respond.”
“Then another friend started shouting, ‘Call 911, come on, call 911!'”