Brother searches for clues in stabbing death of Brooklyn man: ‘The streets are a dangerous place’

The last time Randy Moreta’s brother saw him was in December 2019 at the funeral for their father, who died of cancer.

Now, Moreta’s dead — stabbed to death on a Brooklyn street — and his brother is lamenting the lost time apart.

“You know, things happen in the city, the streets are a dangerous place,” said the brother, days after Moreta was knifed in Brownsville on Oct. 1 a few miles from his home in Starrett City.

“We don’t know who his friends were. We don’t know why he was all the way over there. He should have known better than being in that area around that time, but he didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

The brother did not want his name shared because his brother’s killer is still on the loose.

Police were scouring the area looking for surveillance footage that could help identify the attacker.

Moreta, 36, was found unconscious near the corner of Fulton St. and Alabama Ave. — just a few paces from the elevated Alabama Ave. J train station — around 12:20 a.m. Oct. 1, according to cops.

He had been stabbed at least once in the chest.

EMS rushed him to Brookdale University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The older brother described Moreta as a devoted dad of three whose days were spent mostly caring for his children, ages 11, 8 and 6, while their mother worked two jobs to make ends meet.

Moreta was unemployed.

“He really kept to himself,” the brother said. “He really focused on being able to help with his children. That’s what he was trying to do primarily.”

Moreta and his brother had different mothers and grew up in different households. But they managed to become close as teens, listening to music, before drifting apart as adults, the brother said.

“Back when we were younger, we would hang out with my friends and do our little raps,” he said.

He said Moreta’s death hasn’t hit Moreta’s kids yet.

“We still feel like we’re in some type of surreal dream,” he said. “This doesn’t seem right.

“We just want to know the truth and hopefully be able to have some type of justice and know why his three kids aren’t going to see him again.”