Brooklyn man found dead by wife after being punched in head by relative, death deemed homicide

A 58-year-old man was found dead by his wife hours after he was punched in the head by a relative during a clash in the victim’s Brooklyn apartment — and the death has been deemed a homicide, police said Wednesday.

James Keitt was discovered dead on his living room couch by his wife in their Starrett City apartment on Elmira Loop near Pennsylvania Ave. at about 7:40 a.m. Sunday, cops said.

When responding officers noticed a large welt around Keitt’s right eye, his wife explained he had gotten into a fight with a relative the night before and was punched.

Neighbors heard the fight break out in the apartment.

“The night that it happened [my teenage daughter] said there was a lot of banging on the walls,” a next-door neighbor who wished not to be named said. “I was out that night. By the time the next day came I just saw a bunch of cops.”

The fight was in the back of the victim’s apartment, she said.

“[My daughter] heard yelling, she heard banging, cursing … she heard fighting.”

Keitt lay down on the couch after the fight and fell asleep. When his wife woke up the next morning he wasn’t breathing.

After a brief investigation, Keitt’s death was declared a homicide, cops said.

Neighbors were stunned to hear Keitt was dead.

“He was nice! It’s sad that he’s gone,” said another neighbor, who only wanted to be identified as Craig.

An old adage he learned as a child could have saved Keitt, he said.

“You never heard that old phrase they always say back in the day that if you ever get hurt or hit in the head never go straight to bed?” he asked. “My family told me that.”

No arrests have been made. Police are looking to question the relative Keitt fought with.