PROSPECT HEIGHTS — It was his last time on center stage and Terrell Anderson went out with a standing ovation.
Friends and family of the murdered Vogue dancer crammed into a funeral home just five blocks from Anderson's Bushwick apartment where he was stabbed to death in the middle of the afternoon.
So many mourners showed up that the Frank R Bell funeral home had to print out extra programs.
"He was a dancer then, he was a dancer now, and he's dancing still in the mansion," said his aunt Francine Anderson as she held back tears. "Goodbye Terrell, we'll see you when we get there."
Detectives from the NYPD joined in paying respects to the family at the service, where Anderson was laid to rest in a dark brown casket with a white lining.
No one had been arrested as of Friday but detectives assured the Anderson's that they were doing everything the can I find the killer.
For Anderson's uncle, Darin Anderson, the death is a tragic question mark. Thursday he visited Anderson's apartment looking for answers. He retraced his nephew's last steps, from blood spatters in the kitchen and living room to the puddle of blood on the couch.
Anderson said he believes that his nephew went down fighting. He noted that, while looking through the apartment, he found drawers emptied out and piles of clothes on the floor. Some items were missing, he said.
"Who kills a man and takes his shoes?" he asked.
It wasn't the first time that his nephew's apartment had been robbed.
Just days before being murdered, Anderson told his ex-boyfriend that he was looking to move out because of a recent burglary. In what wound up being their last conversation, the two also talked of getting back together.
"He said 'You have until Friday,'" recalled Ahelah Brown. "I told him I didn't want an ultimatum. I didn't think he'd be dead in a week."
Anderson wore a white suit with a pink tie. It's what he would've wanted, friends said. A bouquet of flowers matched the outfit. The death resonated with the victim's friends in Brooklyn as well as in the city's legendary underground ballroom scene, and both groups were well represented at the service.
Crying gave way to laughter as mourners stopped thinking about his death and remembered his life.
Thy exchanged stories of him dancing to "Beat It" as a little kid and making a ninja costume complete with throwing stars and nunchucks for an upcoming dance competition.
"Terrell built a nationwide reputation as an award-winning vogue dancer," said his cousin Jennifer Anderson. "He is an icon."
Members of the Vogue dance community came with flowers to pay their respects. Members from the groups he competed with - House of Mizrahi and House of Ebony - brought bouquets. And a special late-night tribute, at Escuelita club, where a weekly ballroom competition takes place, was planned for Monday, Feb. 3, to bring the competitors together in his honor, friends said.
Anderson's grandmother, Gladys Horton, who took care of him after his mother died of a drug overdose, drove to Brooklyn from Georgia with a cousin, Stephanie Anderson.
"I feel like they stole something from us," Stephanie Anderson said of the murder. "I just want them to be caught. I just want it to be closed, I don't want this to be a cold case."
