A neighborhood in Niagara Falls is in mourning.
“We're just going to smoke some tires in his name and let him know we're thinking about him,” said Henry Donahue.
Donahue is talking about Jose Hewitt. Hewitt was well known along Pine Avenue, he loved cars and was friends with members of the Niagara Falls Car Club.
On Wednesday, Hewitt was heading home after picking up his heart medication. He was beaten after two people allegedly robbed his neighbor. Another neighbor says he saw the whole thing.
“The one stopped hitting him and he came up to me and pulled the gun out and clicked it and put it to my head and told me to back off,” said Henry Kostrzewa.
According to the coroner, Hewitt later died of a heart attack.
“He kept to himself, he didn't bother anybody. He minded his own business,” said Donahue.
A day after his death, Hewitt’s friends from the NFCC wanted to celebrate his life. They held a tire smoking memorial outside his home.
The Niagara Falls police made arrests after the tire smoking memorial. The City of Niagara Falls estimates damage to the road will cost thousands of dollars.
Members of the Niagara Falls Car Club believe the memorial was worth it.
“He would have enjoyed it. He would have enjoyed it,” said Donahue.
