Fatal Stabbing Stuns Brookline Neighborhood

BROOKLINE, MA — Amory Street residents woke up Tuesday morning to the sound of police knocking on their doors. Officers were making a sweep of the neighborhood, hoping to piece together what happened when 20-year-old Cole Kern was stabbed to death in Amory Park.

A day later, details were still scant, and neighbor were unsure how to respond to news that the town's first homicide since 2006 had taken place so close by. Read more: Stabbing At Amory Park: Brookline Man Arrested, Charged With Murder.

"It's still very new, and we're all just getting information about what really happened," said Bettina Neuefeind, a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 1 who lives on Amory Street. She didn't know Kern or his family, but has joined a group of residents offering to support them.

"It's obviously a huge tragedy for his family, and everybody close to him," Neuefeind said. "We're all wondering what we can do to support the family. It's just really sad."

Like many others, she noted how rare such violence is in Brookline, and especially in that neighborhood.

"It's not something that has happened in the time many of us have lived here," she said.

Read more: Cole Kern, 20, Fatally Stabbed In Brookline

It's serious, and unfortunate, echoed Town Meeting Member Jim Franco, who also lives on Amory Street.

Police knocked on his door Tuesday asking whether he had heard any unusual sounds the night before. He hadn't.

Franco has lived on Amory Street for years, but said he can't remember the last time there was a serious problem on the long street, which stretches from Commonwealth Avenue to Beacon.

Still, he said, he and the neighbors in his building aren't worried for their own safety. The number of people waking through the park in the rain Wednesday helped illustrate that.

"I understand there may be some specific circumstance here," he said, adding that the investigation will take care of itself.

The Norfolk District Attorney announced late Wednesday afternoon that there was a new development in the investigation and more details would be released tonight. Here is the update.

Previously on Patch:

• FBI Crime Stats: Where Brookline Stands
• Woman Attacked On Beacon Street: Police Call it Hate
• Arrests Down: Brookline Police Release 2018 Year
• Stabbing At Amory Park: Brookline Man Arrested, Charged With Murder

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).