By GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — A 27-year-old Lynn man has died after he was stabbed multiple times on Lewis Street Sunday morning, and another man has been charged in the homicide.
Lynn Police responded to the stabbing at 10:22 a.m. at 145 Lewis St., Apt. 306, and found Keenan Barr, of Lynn, suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
He was taken to Salem Hospital and later pronounced dead, authorities said.
George McBrier, 50, a resident of the building, was arrested and charged with murder. He had been taken to Union Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries before he was discharged and taken into police custody, the DA’s office said.
McBrier is expected to be arraigned in Lynn District Court this morning.
Online land records describe the Lewis Street building as a 25-unit apartment complex, near Brickett Elementary School.
Police told WBZ-TV that the incident stemmed from an argument over money, which matched what one female resident of the building told The Item.
The 28-year-old resident, who requested anonymity, said she witnessed the aftermath of the stabbing from looking out of her first floor apartment. She was in her apartment Sunday morning when she heard someone buzzing her door to get into the building. Her husband got up to buzz in lots of police officers and other emergency responders.
The woman said she and her husband were watching out the front and heard a lady come running out of the building.
“(She) was yelling, he stabbed him and he wouldn’t stop stabbing him,” the resident said. “We overheard everything. She said he was being stabbed because there was an argument over money and drugs.”
Emergency responders brought down the victim, and there was blood everywhere, the woman said. EMS was on top of him giving him CPR and got him into the back of the ambulance, she added.
“It was really scary,” the woman said. “I’m from a whole different state and I’m not used to seeing this stuff. It was pretty shocking.”
She said her 3-year-old son was watching out the window and she was trying to pull him away, but because he has autism, he was freaking out from hearing all of the commotion. She has two other young children, a five-month-old and a 2-year-old, the former of whom has Down syndrome, and is also sensitive to noise.
When she was watching with neighbors, the woman said they finally brought out the man who appeared to have committed the stabbing — he was in handcuffs and he was covered in blood. She said the man was so nonchalant, as he just walked out of the building, and walked up to the paramedic and got into the EMS truck.
The woman said it’s not the first time the man has been violent. She said about a month ago, he went around banging on people’s doors in the building, while carrying a huge butcher knife, and she heard later that he had slashed someone in the face.
She is actively looking for another place to live because of the violence, but she said she is limited by needing a place that offers Section 8 Housing and faces bias because the couple has children.
“I literally go to bed every night praying that nothing happens,” the woman said. “I’ve had to throw my babies down on the floor before because someone was shooting at the building…It’s not a good way to live.”
The incident is under investigation by Lynn Police and the DA’s office.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.