The New York Police Department is still searching for a repeat offender who allegedly beat a popular Bronx DJ to death after stealing something from his housemate’s refrigerator.
Mark Gokul, 50, was allegedly attacked by his housemate on June 23 after DJ Gokul, known locally as “Mr Cool”, said he “apparently stole something”. [the killer’s] NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney said the case was a “freezer” case.
The 7:30 a.m. assault wasn’t reported until much later in the day, when Gokul went to Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital for treatment.
But his injuries were so severe — including multiple orbital fractures, bleeding on the brain and swelling on the brain — that medical professionals transported him to Westchester County Medical Center, where officers met with him around 5 p.m., Kenney said.
Gokul told patrol officers that another resident had attacked him, claiming that he was “touching his faeces”, the chief added.
“This was multiple punches and kicks to the head and face,” Kenny said of the victim’s injuries. “He was very seriously injured. [that] At some point, he went into cardiac arrest. His cause of death was blunt force trauma.”
The chief said the injured man suffered from pain for nearly two weeks before succumbing to his injuries on Saturday, July 6.
The medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide, according to the NYPD.
Kenney named the suspect in Gokul’s murder as Robert Hector, a 34-year-old Bronx man who lived at the same address and has a history of violence, including a conviction for attempted murder in 2015 for beating someone with a hammer.
It is not clear how the case was resolved.
But according to the chief and online jail records, Hector had also served time in prison for multiple robberies and thefts.
He remained at large Thursday.
Neighbours in the house where the couple lived described Gokul as a “nice guy”.
“He was just a really sweet guy. A kind person,” said a neighbor who asked not to be named. “He would always say hello to everybody.”
