Wife of slain pastor credits "Outpouring of love & support" with keeping her strong
MIAMI - A South Florida wife and mother is grieving after losing her husband, a South Florida pastor and community leader.
Antwane 'A-D' Lenoir was killed Saturday, murdered while trying to help the man accused of killing him, at the Westview Baptist Church where he pastored.
CBS News Miami's Tania Francois spoke exclusively to Lenoir's wife Bree. The two were married for two decades. Bree says she never imagined living life without him. "I learned a lot from my husband except, you know, of course, how to live without him."
The two have four kids between the ages of 13 and 20. Bree says she wants her husband, Lenoir to be remembered for how he lived. She says, "He was a very good example of a selfless individual, a joy-filled person. He always smiled, even if things were looking kind of grim or dreary, you wouldn't know it by his countenance."
Police say he was being selfless on Saturday. Lenoir, 41, called a locksmith to come and change several door locks in the church. While at the church with the locksmith, Lenoir reportedly got into a verbal argument with 44-year-old James Dawkins, who had been allowed to temporarily live at the church.
As the argument grew heated Dawkins, without provocation according to police, stabbed Lenoir multiple times before running off. When Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived they found Lenoir's body on the ground. Dawkins was in court Monday morning on murder charges.
Bree says, "His life is not when it ended. It's not even about when it started. It's about what he did in between to make his life count." That's also how Bree wants their children to remember their dad. She says, "They have their moments and I expect that that's gonna be the way it is indefinitely, you know, going forward. But, they remember their dad as the guy, the guy that when he comes, he, he'll play games with them, he'll, you know, text in the house when he was funny about texting in the house."
Lenoir pastored this church for 15 years and made a lot of friends.
His wife says there's been a huge outpouring of love and support from the community and that is what's keeping her strong.
So far, final arrangements have not been made.