BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The uncle of Buffalo's last homicide victim of 2014 visited Peach Street on Wednesday.
"I hate being over here. I hate being over here for that very fact that this is where my nephew had his last breath," said Emanuel Kulu.
Kulu's nephew, Denell Baker of Buffalo, was shot and killed on Peach Street on Dec. 28. Baker was 28.
"From what I came to understand is down here at the store on East North Street is where they parked and shot Denell down there," Kulu said. "From what I'm hearing, from a lot of people, and they dropped him off over here and North Street and left him there to die pretty much and that's where he died."
Police arrested two men last week in connection with Baker's killing. DeShawn Harris is charged with 2nd degree murder and Jordan Hicks is charged with hindering prosecution.
Kulu said Baker was more like a brother to him than a nephew because they were so close in age and the fact they grew up in the same house. He said Baker was also a devoted father who loved his children, but he believes it was his dealings on streets that led to his tragic demise.
"Unfortunately for Denell, a lot of the people he was associated with were in that lifestyle and he just happened to trust the wrong people at the wrong time, and I often question: Why did Denell get in to that car? Why did you get into that car that night?"
Kulu said in the end, Denell's death is a tragedy for the entire community and he's pleading for an end to the violence.
"We hope that the violence stops in the city of Buffalo. We feel like it's an epidemic and it just keeps going on and on and on, and we didn't want the people who did this to feel the same pain that we felt, you know? We didn't want that for them but they've got to pay for what they did. They've got to pay for the rest for their life for what they did to Denell."
Both suspects in the shooting are being held in the Erie County Holding Center, awaiting arraignment.