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Man Killed in Suspicious Bed-Stuy Fire Remembered as 'Mr. Wonderful'

By Camille Bautista | October 22, 2015 9:58am | Updated on October 22, 2015 1:08pm
 Officials are investigating a Tuesday evening fire that killed two men at 103 Hancock St., police said.
Officials are investigating a Tuesday evening fire that killed two men at 103 Hancock St., police said.
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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A longtime neighbor who used to DJ local block parties and earned the nickname "Mr. Wonderful" for his friendly attitude was one of two men killed in a brownstone fire that authorities are investigating as a homicide, officials and residents said.

The blaze tore through the second and third stories of 103 Hancock St., between Bedford and Nostrand avenues, around 9:43 p.m. Tuesday, the FDNY said.

Tyrone Corely, 56, who lived on the third floor, was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Emergency responders also rushed fellow tenant Stanley Wilkie, 47, to Interfaith Medical Center for smoke inhalation, but he succumbed to his injuries Wednesday morning, police said.

Police are investigating the deaths as homicides, based on preliminary findings that show an accelerant was used inside the brownstone.

"He was the friendliest man on the street, we would call him Mr. Wonderful," Corely's longtime neighbor Daniel Thompson said. "When we saw him going into the ambulance we thought he was going to be OK. It’s just so so sad," Thompson said. 

Corely worked as a social worker and lived alone in his apartment but had relatives, including his sister, living a few houses down on Hancock Street, according to Thompson.

Thompson described Corely, a longtime resident of the street, as an "enthusiastic music DJ" who would be in charge of the playlists at block parties. "He was a great friend of all of us and we're all very upset," Thompson said.

Two other women were taken Kings County Hospital for smoke inhalation and were in stable condition, officials said.

Officials had no further details on the type of accelerant used in the blaze, and the investigation is ongoing.