PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A father of three who left his career as a journalist in Haiti behind for a better life in the United States was killed while walking to work this week in East Mount Airy, prosecutors said. A man is now charged with his death.
On Tuesday, 51-year-old Jean Schultz Laurent, of Abington, was stabbed in the chest outside June’s Kitchen — the restaurant where he worked — near Wadsworth and Michener avenues.
He was taken to the hospital, where he died about an hour later.
Laurent’s family described him as a good man who worked hard to provide for his three children.
Laurent’s niece, Alex Belly, said the family thinks Laurent was randomly targeted. She said her uncle did not have any enemies.
“He was still picking up on English. He went to work, came home, took care of his kids,” she told NBC10. “We’re just trying to make sense of everything.”
Laurent’s family said he worked as a journalist and a literature professor in Haiti before coming to America, seeking a better life.
Police said the suspect, 48-year-old Scott Hilton, fled the scene after the attack but was quickly apprehended. He is charged with several offenses, including murder.