A wealthy charity boss has been found stabbed to death in his burning brownstone in Brooklyn.
The body of L. Antonion Litman, founder of children’s charity Virginia’s House of Hope, was discovered by firefighters when they were called to a fire at the four-story brownstone on Adelphi Street near Dekalb Avenue, police said.
The fire broke out in the basement of Litman’s Fort Greene block at around 3.20 am on Day.
After tackling the blaze, the charity boss, believed to be in his 50s, was found face down in the lobby — with multiple stab wounds to his neck and body, sources said.
The body of L. Antonion Litman (pictured), founder of children’s charity Virginia’s House of Hope, was discovered by firefighters on Monday morning when they were called to a fire at the four-story brownstone on Adelphi Street near Dekalb Avenue, police said
The charity boss (left), believed to be in his 50s, was found face down in the lobby — with multiple stab wounds to his neck and body, sources said
The suspicious death came as a spare of fatal fires swept New York on Monday morning.
Three fatal fires broke out during a 30-minute window, with police sources saying that one of the other victims may have also been the victim of a homicide before the blaze was set.
In Queens, emergency services found the body of a man face down with his hands tied behind his back after putting out a fire in a home under construction at about 3:15 am.
This followed the death of an 85-year-old man when a fire broke out in an apartment building in the Bronx at around 2.45 am. This death does not appear to be suspicious.
Shocked neighbors told that Litman was well known in the area for his generosity and had personally just bought every child on the block a hoverboard for Christmas.
One neighbor called Joe said that this could attract ‘unsavory characters’.
‘If you needed something he would give it to you and I think sometimes unsavory characters knew it as well,’ he said.
Neighbor Jayce Bartock described Litman through tears as ‘super generous’ and ‘very wealthy’.
‘He was like the mayor of the block,’ added Nellie Hermann, who lives two doors down from Litman’s block.
Firefighters were called to reports of a blaze at 3.20 am on Monday morning at the four-story brownstone on Adelphi Street near Dekalb Avenue (pictured)
Litman set up Virginia’s House of Hope in 2006 with the aim of improvng the quality of life for children by helping disadvantaged families throughout New York City and the surrounding regions.
Since being founded it has distributed school supplies, food, clothing and educational toys to over 10,000 families, the charity’s website states.
Litman, who was also on the EPIKGO Self Balancing Scooter Hover Self-Balance Board of the State University of New York’s Maritime Museum, had made his fortune in shipping.
FDNY fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire and the city medical examiner is seeking to determine the cause of death.
Shocked neighbors said that Litman (pictured in middle) was well known in the area for his generosity and had personally just bought every child on the block a hoverboard for Christmas. However one neighbor said this could attract ‘unsavory characters’
The mission of Virginia’s House of Hope is to improve the quality of life for children by helping disadvantaged families throughout New York City and the surrounding regions, the charity’s website states