NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A family is stricken with grief after a highly respected pastor was murdered at his own church.
“There’s so much I can say but I don’t know what to say. I never would’ve thought, never would’ve dreamed that my grandson would leave me,” said Patty Jones-Woods, the victim’s grandmother.
Jones-Woods said Pastor Antwane Lenoir was a kind man with a big heart and his family never thought his generosity would get him killed.
“Anybody take somebody away, that’s been so good, gave you a place to stay, gave you food and then you do this to them?” said Helen Lenoir, the pastor’s mother.
Family members said that 44-year-old James Dawkins played the keyboard at the house of worship at Westview Baptist Church in Northwest 24th Avenue and 133rd Street.
They said he fell on hard times and needed help.
That’s when Pastor Lenoir stepped in and allowed Dawkins to live inside the church.
But when he tried to end the arrangement, police said, the pastor was found stabbed to death in the church parking lot.
“But I got the call Sunday, 3 a.m., from his wife, and I just told her, I said, ‘You can’t be telling me the truth, what happened?’ She said ‘My husband is dead.'” said Lenoir.
Pastor Lenoir was a husband, a father of four and a beloved member of the community.
As the family tries to process the loss, they are also trying to stand strong.
“I don’t question God. I just trust God to just strengthen us,” said Patricia Lenoir, the pastor’s aunt.
“We’re not gonna let his legacy go down,” said Lenoir.
Dawkins was charged with first-degree murder and remains behind bars without bond.
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