NEW YORK _ A 28-year-old man shot on the street in Brooklyn refused to give cops any information about his killer as he lay dying in the hospital, authorities said Wednesday.
Arsenio Gravesande _ a close friend of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle who even appeared in one of the rapper's music videos _ was hit in the left hip on Union Street and Sutter Avenue in Brownsville about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, cops said. The bullet apparently struck a major artery.
"The ambulance came and I got in there with him," said Gravesande's cousin, Bethany Samuels, 35. "He was moving around, he was grabbing everything, he didn't want to stay stabilized. He didn't want to stay down. He kept telling me, 'Bethany I'm dead, I can't breathe, I'm dead.' I was telling him, 'No you're not dead.'"
He was conscious when medics rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital but refused to tell police anything about the gunman, a police source said. He died at the hospital a short time later.
Gravesande received a phone call Tuesday night to meet someone around the corner from his Brooklyn home, according to Samuels.
"It probably was a setup," Samuels said. "People just hate you for no reason. It's crazy."
Gravesande and two of his friends walked down the block, Samuels said. Five minutes later, she heard shots ring out.
"One of his friends came running around saying, 'Arsenio got hit, Arsenio got hit,'" she said. "So I ran around the corner and he was on the floor saying he can't breathe."
Cops were back at the scene Wednesday looking for evidence and surveillance video that could help them identify the gunman.
Gravesande, who has a 4-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son, was a member of the G Stone Crips gang and had seven arrests on his record, a police source said. He was previously wounded during a 2012 shooting that left his friend, boxer Trendon Franklin, dead. Cops have not established a motive for Gravesande's killing.
His cousin acknowledged Gravesande was affiliated with the Crips.
"He was like the head of them, he controlled them here," she said.
"He barbecued and did giveaways to the kids. He was a good person and did good things for everybody out here. He tried to keep the streets clean. Some people are not in gangs for bad vibes. Some people are in gangs to give away to the community. He never killed nobody, he never hurt nobody. He wasn't like that."
"That was my favorite cousin," Samuels added. "We did everything together. We partied, we went bowling. We had a lot of fun in life together. ... We're never going to see him again. That's crazy. I can't believe this. It's like a dream."
Gravesande's mother was too distraught to talk to a reporter.
"She's not too well," Samuels said. "She can't even sleep. She keeps saying her baby is gone, her baby is gone. That's her youngest."
