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Man Found Beaten to Death in Gates Avenue Apartment, Police Say

By  Alan Neuhauser Aidan Gardiner and Elizabeth Hagen | November 8, 2012 7:56am | Updated on November 8, 2012 6:07pm

BROOKLYN — A 31-year-old man was beaten to death in his Gates Avenue apartment — and police Thursday arrested his live-in boyfriend in connection with the killing, sources said.

Shaun Woolford was found unconscious and unresponsive in his fourth-floor apartment at 885 Gates Ave. at the Stuyvesant-Garden Houses public housing complex Wednesday just after 3 p.m., police said.

Woolford had blunt force trauma to the back of the head, sources said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the NYPD said.

The medical examiner will perform an autopsy on Woolford Friday, a department spokeswoman said.

Devineil Brown, 25, who lived with Woolford, was arrested Thursday. Brown, who sources and neighbors said was romantically involved with Woolford, was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Neighbors were shocked by the accusation against Brown, whom they described as quiet and mild-mannered.

"He goes to church," said Sharon Gantt, 55, a neighbor. "He works. I can't believe he would do anything like that."

Residents said the apartment originally belonged to Brown's mother and was passed down to Brown after her death, and Woolford just moved in within the past year.

"[Brown] was always a good guy," said Andrea Burch, 41, who has known Brown since he was a child. "He was no troublemaker on the block. I'm just devastated."