Family says Harlem man was killed by troubled youth he tried to help

Harlem chef Tyrone Swinton opened his home to a young man who was down on his luck.

His family says his kindness got him killed.

Cops who found Swinton, 60, unconscious and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on Feb. 29 said he was shot by his young friend, with whom he had fallen out.

Days after the slaying, police arrested Joseph Fulford, 25, and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

A relative said Swinton had taken the needy man in several years ago, only to kick him out over concerns about his associates.

But Fulford resurfaced in recent months, the relative added, and after an argument in the home they briefly shared, Swinton was gunned down.

“The night before, he came to my brother’s house,” said Yvette Swinton, 58, the victim’s heartbroken sister.

“My brother gave him a coat. He only stayed in my brother’s house for 10 or 15 minutes at the most. He told him he had some girl waiting downstairs. My brother gave him money, and he told him he would be back the next day. And this is what happened. Now my brother’s not here.”

Neighbors in the building on W. 116th St. near Malcolm X Blvd. heard arguing and gunshots at around 9:30 a.m. and called 911, officials said.

Swinton was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside, where he was pronounced dead.

His sister said he called their mother after Fulford’s visit and told her the man “looked rugged, in a bad way.”

“He said, ‘Mom, you’ll never guess who just came to the house,’” the sibling told the Daily News. “He said, ‘Joseph just came to my house.’ When he opened his door, he sees that Joseph was looking like he was living in the streets. He was looking so dirty.

“He let him in,” she continued. “My brother said, ‘Let me give you a coat. He gave him a coat, and he gave him some money.”

The victim and his mother talked every day, according to Yvette Swinton. In that same conversation, the son told their mother he would come over to their Brooklyn family home to cook some fish.

Then the next day, he was dead.

“My brother had a good heart,” the sister said. “My brother was very giving.”

Yvette Swinton said that she and other family members had met Fulford before, but didn’t like him.

“It was always something in the back of my head that I never trusted. Just some instinct,” she said.

“I was uncomfortable the whole time when he used to come around. My spirit never took to him. My spirit never took. There was just something about him that I couldn’t fit what it was, but there was something about him I couldn’t trust about him.

She said Swinton kicked him out several years ago, when he started hanging with the wrong crowd.

“My brother said he started running the streets,” Yvette Swinton said. “My brother said, ‘You’re not going to bring this stuff in the house.’ After that, he didn’t even hear from him until recently.”

Tyrone Swinton had arrests dating back to 1982 for robbery, burglary and grand larceny, according to police.

But his sibling said her brother had put all that behind him.

“People may have done things in the past, but when you grow older, you learn your lessons and you try to help people,” she said.

The building superintendent told the Daily News that non-profit Community Access had placed Tyrone Swinton in the building. The organization assists various populations with housing, including those facing homelessness, people with psychiatric disabilities and veterans, according to its website.

Yvette Swinton said that Fulford also appeared back on the radar last year, when her brother was celebrating his 60th birthday.

Following a May 8 birthday party for Tyrone Swinton, he got a call in which Fulford asked for money after a quick catch-up, according to the sister. She said her brother ended up giving his future killer $100.

Now she wants justice.

“I just want people to know how good of a man my brother [was],” she said. “My brother did everything he could to help this boy.”