A sophomore at Ithaca College was fatally stabbed on Cornell University’s campus early Sunday morning. Anthony Nazaire, 19, of Brooklyn, was walking his ill friend, Rahiem Williams, home after a party when Williams accidentally bumped shoulders with a woman, leading to the altercation that left Nazaire dead, the New York Daily News reports. Both men apologized to the woman for the accidental brush, but the two were somehow drawn into one of many fights that reportedly occurred after fraternity Omega Psi Phi’s annual welcome party.
Nazaire had just returned to school from a summer with his mother and sister, and told his mother on Saturday that this would be his first and last party of the year, according to the Daily News. A business major with goals of becoming an entrepreneur, Nazaire was doing well in school, and friends and faculty had nothing but good things to say of him. His college prep counselor described him as ambitious and kind; a classmate said he was a gentleman. His death was the first murder in the town in five years, according the Daily News.
A vigil was held on Monday afternoon to honor Nazaire, whose friends and family were struggling to grasp the traged, according to The Washington Post. “What saddens me the most is he didn’t die here in Flatbush, but died away at school,” cousin Chanelle Nazaire wrote on Facebook.
Police have reviewed a cellphone recording as part of their homicide investigation, according to the Post, and say that they can see many people holding up phones to record the fight. Police are asking the public to step forward with any video they may have of the incident so that they can bring justice to Nazaire.
“I just wanted to go to your graduation, I’m going to your funeral instead,” Chanelle added online.
