A rivalry ended in the fatal stabbing of a Harlem man on the stoop of a building where his family had congregated and played for three generations, multiple family members told the Daily News.
Maxmillion Withers, 30, was outside the Verizon building on Convent Ave. near W. 146th St. at about 1:30 a.m. when he got into an argument with three suspects who commenced shouting at him from across the street, a witness told police.
One of the suspects stormed up to the victim and punched him in the face, said police. During the scrape, a second suspect ran over and stabbed the victim multiple times in the body, cops said.
EMS rushed the victim to Harlem Hospital, but he could not be saved.
The Verizon building on Convent Ave. is a three-story brick building fronted by a flight of seven concrete steps, where members of the victim’s family have kept company and played street games for more than 60 years, the victim’s brother said.
“This is where everything comes from, this stoop. We play cards here on this stoop. We play tag. We play basketball,” Marcus Withers told The News.
“This,” the victim’s brother, pointing out a brick wall steps from where his brother was killed, added, “is our backboard.”
One cousin compared the stoop to a neighborhood park.
“Like everyone goes to the park, we go to the telephone building,” said 59-year-old Shivonne Rush.
Members of Withers family arrived on the scene as early as 3 a.m. on Friday, and by mid morning dozens of cousins and members of Withers extended family had flocked from out-of-state homes to their traditional hangout spot.
There, with brush brooms, paper towels, bleach and buckets of soapy water, they wiped bloody handprints from nearby cars and scrubbed the darks stains off the sidewalk.
“We’ve driven from near and far, Connecticut, New Jersey, we’re here because this is unbelievable,” cousin Kia Cherry told The News. “He was like a child, a brother to all of us.”
“We want to honor him. We want to make sure that this is not how we remember him.”
“I want to hug him. I want to let him know his family cares about him,” Cherry finished, breaking down in tears.
Cherry said that her cousin had been drawn into a conflict with another man through his girlfriend.
“He didn’t approve of his girlfriend’s friend. They had some words and that was it,” said Cherry. “This is definitely a situation he wanted to avoid. This is just out of character for him. We’re all shocked.”
Marcus Withers said his brother’s murder will forever tarnish his family’s beloved hangout spot.
“He’s a neighborhood staple. He’s like one of those guys that you know is always going to be around. That’s the thing that sucks. He’s not going to be here no more,” said Marcus Withers.
“[The stoop’s] done now, at least for my family.”
Withers family boasts deep ties to the Harlem community, claiming his grandmother, Alfancy Gilchrist, was the first Black woman to own property in the neighborhood. She purchased a Brownstone on 146th St. near Convent Ave. in the early 1960s, Rush said.
When the victim’s family sold off the building in 2017, many of his family members left the area, but Malik and his father chose to remain.
“They were pillars of the community,” said Cherry. “His father works as a super at many of these buildings on 146th St. Max was known to be someone who was lovable. [Maxmillion] loved to laugh. He’s a hugger.”
The victim is the youngest of three brothers, who were raised by their father after their mother passed due to lung cancer when he was 13 years old, Marcus Withers said.
Withers previously worked as a baggage handler at LaGuardia Airport, but had been recently laid off and was unemployed at the time of his death, said Cherry.
The victim was interested in fashion, and boasted an impressive collection of sneakers and cologne, his brother said.
“My brother had an expensive cologne collection. I’m wearing his cologne right now. He had like 50 different colognes,” said Marcus Withers.
His family are now eager for justice, said one cousin.
“He was caring and compassionate, kine and loving. That’s what he was and is, because he’s not gone, he just in a different place,” said 47-year-old Jenee Carter.
That’s who he was and they robbed him. They robbed him of life.”
After the stabbing, the victm’s attackers fled the scene on foot.
One of the three suspects was wearing a white hoodie and tan pants, police said. The second assailant was dressed in a black sweatshirt and the third suspect was in all grey.
Cops were scouring the area looking for surveillance footage that can help them identify the suspects and track their movements.
Originally Published: August 29, 2025 at 10:36 AM EDT
