The last time Chevanne Spencer saw her brother Michael in person was in March, when she took him out to dinner at The Q Bar and Kitchen for his birthday. “He never wanted to come back here,” Chevanne said about her older brother’s move back to New Haven from Atlanta last November. “He al ways said there was a dark cloud over the city.” And yet, she said, Michael was beginning to turn his life around. She said he had been staying at the Upon this Rock Ministries shelter on Grand Avenue, and had become a regular at Upon this Rock’s church. She said he was about to start an apprenticeship program — scheduled to begin this very Tuesday — that would have put him on the path to getting a new job. “He didn’t have trouble with anybody,” Chevanne said about Michael. “He was a creative. He was an intellect. He loved deep conversations. He preserved himself, his personality, for those that he loved. He was a kind person, and sweet.” Last Wednesday afternoon, Michael’s life ended after he was fatally stabbed on the Green following an altercation in the downtown public library. Police are still looking for the suspect. Michael was 37 years old. His death marked the city’s sixth homicide of the year so far, and came less than an hour before 42-year-old Tisha Marinoccio was fatally stabbed in an unrelated domestic-violence incident at an Orange Street public housing tower nearby. Chevanne spoke with the Independent over the weekend in an effort keep Michael’s memory alive — to let the public know that his life was about so much more than just its violent end. As a former New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) employee — she used to work in circulation at the downtown hub — she also raised concerns about the safety of patrons and staff at the Elm Street library. “I would like a police presence,” she said about the downtown library. “The fact that this guy [who stabbed Michael to death on the Green] is still at large is insane to me.” Chevanne said that she and her family moved to New Haven when she was 15 and Michael was 16. She said she has lived in New Haven ever since, while Michael spent nearly a decade living in Atlanta with their mom before moving back to New Haven. Chevanne said that Michael graduated from Hillhouse High School in 2007, and that he used to work at the clothing store Nordstrom’s in White Plains, N.Y. An online fundraiser that Chevanne has set up has already raised more than $4,000 towards a $12,000 goal to help cover the costs of his funeral and other related expenses. “Michael was so much more than the tragedy that took his life,” that online fundraiser states. It also states that he attended Roosevelt Elementary and Blackham Middle School in Bridgeport, Hillhouse High School in New Haven, and Livingston College, Housatonic Community College, and Berkeley College in New York. “Michael was unique. He was creative, artistic, fashionable, and completely his own person,” that fundraiser states. “He had a love for fashion and art and expressed himself in a way that was unmistakably Michael.” Chevanne told the Independent that her brother “faced a lot of hurt and rejection in life. I’m just sad for him. I’m so sad for him.” The post “Michael Was So Much More Than The Tragedy That Took His Life” appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less