Brooklyn Man Shot Dead While Defending Daughter
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Brooklyn father was shot to death while defending his daughter over the weekend in Crown Heights.
Shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday, 43-year-old Philip Scarlett was at his girlfriend's apartment in the Kingsborough Houses, waiting for his daughter to arrive, reports CBS2's Hazel Sanchez.
Scarlett's family says his 14-year-old daughter Tyra went to meet him there to get money for her grandmother and to do laundry. When she arrived, two masked men attacked her right outside the apartment door.
"That's when she cried out for daddy," said Scarlett's mother, Janet Howell. "He came out and realized what was going on, and he grabbed her and tossed her in the house and he was struggling to keep them out of the house.
"They yanked him down the stairs and shot him," she said.
Scarlett was rushed to Interfaith Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Scarlett's daughter told CBS2 her father's girlfriend emptied his pockets before police arrived.
She also said the girlfriend waited three days before giving her family the cash and wallet Scarlett had on him when he was shot, showing a bullet hole piercing through it and everything inside including a W-2 form.
Police released photos of two men identified as "persons of interest" in the case.
The first is described as a black man in his 30s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 220 pounds, last seen wearing a gray knit cap, black coat, black sweatpants and black sneakers.
The second is a black man in his 20s, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 175 pounds, last seen wearing a gray hooded coat, black hooded sweater, blue jeans and tan boots.
Police believe robbery was likely the motive. Scarlett's family says they were never convinced he was a random target because they say he never believed in banks and often carried a lot of cash in his pockets.
"I need justice for him," said Howell. "This is uncalled for."
Anyone with information about this case should to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. You can also call (866) NYS-AMBER or 911.