Thank You NRA! Just the 'American Way of Life!' Aren't you PROUD?

SLAIN AS HE SAVES HIS BRO
July 21, 2009

A beloved and "brilliant" Bronx businessman was shot dead trying to protect his older brother from an armed mugger, police and witnesses said yesterday.

The tragedy unfolded Sunday night after Eric Baxter, 53, parked his car in front of the three-story brick home he shared with his brother, Sydney, 51, in Williamsbridge and was confronted by a thug demanding money, witnesses said.

Eric ran into the house, "screaming out, 'Call the police! Call the police!' " said pal and tenant Jacob Adams, 71.

Eric was still trying to close the door when Sydney rushed past him, Adams said.

"Sydney pushed his brother aside" to safety, Adams said. "Eric fell, and Sydney jumped over him and confronted the man. That's when the shots came."

The gunman shot Sydney three times in the chest. He died minutes later at Jacobi Hospital.

"What a soul," Adams said of Sydney. "He was a spark. He was a brilliant mind."

Adams said Eric -- "the softer one of the two" -- was beside himself with grief.

"He said to me, 'Rather than going out, if only my brother had helped me push the door so that the man wouldn't come in,' " Adams said.

The brothers, who owned the house at Lavonia Avenue and East 216th Street, were born in Jamaica and grew up in London before coming to The Bronx.

They ran a used-car dealership.

Sydney, who went to college in Wales, got a master's degree in business administration from Baruch College.

He worshipped at the First Ghana Seventh Day Adventist Church and became assistant treasurer of the Northeast Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists.

Adams said Sydney had raised up to $10 million for the church.

"He was a very hardworking person, very intelligent," the tenant said. "He was well-liked, very honored."

Sydney was the youngest of five brothers. Two of his brothers live in London, and a third lives in Maryland.

Neighbor Edna Sterling, 65, said she was asleep when she heard the shots.

"I heard a 'Boom! Boom!' when I was in my bedroom, and I thought it was firecrackers," she said.

She said she last saw Sydney Saturday morning.

"He was dressed for church," she said. " 'What a beautiful day,' he said. "That was the last time I saw him."