Update: Ecuadorian dies after brutal attack

Yesterday we mentioned how a pair of Ecuadorian brothers was the targets of a cowardly attack in Brooklyn. Sadly, the incident has taken a fatal turn:

One of the two Ecuadorian brothers beaten in Brooklyn while their attackers screamed anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs has died, the New York City Police Department confirmed today.

Investigators say Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, was walking home with his brother Romel at the intersection of Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue early Sunday morning…

According to police, that's when four men jumped out of a burgundy Ford Explorer and began attacking the brothers.

Police say the men were beaten with a bottle and a baseball bat while the attackers yelled anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs.

Jose Sucuzhanay’s murder marks the second death of an Ecuadorian in the New York metro area in recent weeks. Last month, Marcelo Lucero was beaten to death by a group of teens on Long Island.

As more information has emerged of what will likely be treated as a hate crime, so have details of the deceased:

The victim…the co-owner of Open Realty International, a real estate agency in Bushwick, was described by family members as a gentle, generous man, a father of two children who live with his parents in Azogues, Ecuador, his native town…

Diego Sucuzhanay said that his brother, one of 12 siblings, came to New York 10 years ago “because there were job opportunities.” He said Jose worked as a restaurant waiter for seven years, and founded his real estate agency several years ago. “He helped this community,” he said. “He loved Bushwick.”

An immigrant; a hard worker; a dreamer; an entrepreneur. And now a dead man in a heinous attack.

Image- New York Daily News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, NY1, New York Times