Naked NYU freshman plunges to death from dorm roof: cops
By Lorena Mongelli, Bob Fredericks and Daniel Prendergast (New York Post)
A stark-naked freshman who “looked like he was on drugs” plunged to his death from the roof of a New York University dorm early Monday – the first day of classes for the spring semester, cops and witnesses said.
Aspiring rapper Titan Lee-Hai, 19, from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, plummeted 15 stories from the Third North Residence Hall at 75 Third Ave. near East 11th Street in the East Village about 3:20 a.m. after a night of partying with a pal, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Another student said the naked victim walked into an elevator he was riding in minutes before he died and punched him in the head for no reason.
“I was the last person to see him alive. I was in the elevator and he just walked in and punched me in the face and then he asked me where he was. He was naked when he walked in. So, it was pretty obvious he was not in his senses. He had no sense of where he was or what time it was,” said Shazim Khurshid, 19, a freshman. “He looked like he was on drugs, a lot of drugs.”
Khurshid said the victim – who lived on the second floor – rode to the top floor and opened a door to the roof, triggering an alarm that forced students to evacuate before he either fell or jumped.
“I never saw him before. It is sad,” Khurshid said, adding that the teen urinated on the floor before getting into the elevator. “It was pretty obvious he was not in his senses.”
He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Friends on Facebook described the victim as a talented rapper and producer.
“Just heard of the passing of a real friend and a genuine inspiration to my performance. He’s not only the guy who inspired me to try my hand at rap, he’s the person who worked on my entire mixtape with me,” wrote Brendon Jeremy O’Brien “R.I.P to one of Trinidad’s most prolific young talents Titan Lh……It was truly a great honor to have performed with you while you were alive,” added Ayinde NinjaBoi Nurse Sources said the victim did not leave a note, and was alone on the roof at the time.
Police initially said the death was being treated as a suicide, but law enforcement sources said later that he may have been on drugs and that it was uncertain if he fell or jumped. Toxicology test results won’t be available for several weeks.
Cops were looking for the unidentified friend he had been out with.
Another freshman who lives in the dorm said everyone was evacuated when Lee-Hai triggered the alarm.
“We were evacuated from the building at around 3:15. My friends said they saw a body lying in the courtyard. It’s sad,” she said.
University officials said the circumstances surrounding his death were still under investigation.
“It is with great sorrow that we report that a freshman was found in an interior courtyard in the residence hall where he lived. It appears as though his death occurred as a result of a fall from the roof of the building,” said NYU spokesman John Beckman.
“Police and the University are looking into events preceding the discovery of the body in order to determine the cause and nature of his death.”
If it is determined that he jumped, it would be at least the fourth suicide at NYU in a little over a decade.
Two students jumped to their deaths in 2003 and another died in 2009, prompting school officials to take precautionary measures such as installing aluminum barriers in the university’s main library to prevent people from jumping from the top floors into the atrium.
Beckman said NYU was offering help for students who may have been traumatized by the incident.
“We have had crisis counselors at the residence hall since early this morning, providing support to student residents and the hall staff. Their presence on site will continue,” he said.
“We want to remind students of the availability of help around the clock at NYU … and we want everyone to remember that you will not get in trouble for calling in professional staff … to help when someone is struggling with an immediate problem.”
