A man found murdered earlier this month in a North Miami Beach fast-food restaurant’s parking lot didn’t deserve to die, his brother said Tuesday.
The victim was located less than two weeks before he was supposed to get married.
Hershy Schwartz, 39, was found unresponsive in the rear parking lot of Wendy’s, 25 NE 167th St., at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 19, North Miami Beach police have said. Investigators called it a homicide and said Schwartz was likely killed during a robbery.
Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers has put out a flier about Schwartz’s death and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. No one has publicly said how Schwartz was killed.
During a news conference at police headquarters, Yoel Schwartz pleaded for the public’s help to find his brother’s killer.
READ MORE: Man found dead in car behind a North Miami Beach fast food chain. Cops say it’s a homicide
“It’s very hard for us to comprehend and fathom what happened to him or the reason why it happened to him,” Schwartz said. “I beg everyone in the community, no matter who he is, no matter if he knew him or if he didn’t know him, to please, please help us.”
Schwartz also said he was very close to his brother.
“Hershy was to me not only a brother, he was my best friend,” he said. “Please help us find the person who did this and bring justice for Hershy.”
Hershy Schwartz was a first responder for the William P. Faist Volunteer Ambulance, and the Brewer Fire Engine Company No. One, Inc., in New York, WPLG Channel 10 had reported.
Chesed Shel Emes, a Jewish nonprofit that says it works with law enforcement and medical examiners “to provide respect and dignity for the deceased,” had also tweeted shortly after the slaying that Hershy Schwartz had been one of its members.
Schwartz’s bride-to-be, Rosie Brutowsky, had told the television station that she felt “empty without him.” “My heart was completely ripped out… I love him and I can’t live without him,” she said.