Billy Hippolyte and his half brother Samuel will be united forever, both in life and in death.
The Brooklyn brothers, who have the same father but different mothers, were born on the same day: July 1.
Then, in January, Samuel Hippolyte fatally shot his older brother in a petty dispute over money, police and grief-stricken relatives said.
“They had their problems like any brother with different fathers,” Billy Hippolyte’s sister, Ruth Hippolyte, told the Daily News. “But we never thought the bullets would fly.”
After weeks on the run, 26-year-old Samuel Hippolyte was taken into custody by New York police and US marshals after he returned to his home in Canarsie on Thursday.
He is accused of shooting Billy, 40, during a standoff near the corner of E. 83rd St. near Flatlands Ave. around 3 pm on January 17 before getting into a gray Toyota Highlander and sped off. Speed toward Belt Parkway.
Billy Hippolyte was shot in the torso, police said.
“The guy was lying on the street bleeding on his face. Man, he was bleeding,” witness Aiden Huque, 26, told The News at the time. “People were running and screaming. They were pumping his chest but he wasn’t responding.”
The doctors took Billy to Brookdale Hospital, but were unable to save him. The talented mechanic and construction worker left behind a 6-year-old daughter, Ruth Hippolyte said.
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“He, and she, did not deserve this,” he said. “This is a sad and terrible day for our family. A family member was killed by his own brother. For our family, this is our 9/11.”
Samuel Hippolyte lived two blocks from where he shot his older brother. It was not immediately disclosed how much money the two were discussing.
While evading capture, a grand jury indicted Samuel on murder and weapons charges for killing his half-brother, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
When he was seized Thursday, he was immediately taken to Brooklyn Supreme Court and ordered held without bail, court records show.
This is the first arrest for Samuel Hippolyte, police said.
“We are happy and relieved,” Ruth Hippolyte said of the arrest, thanking NYPD detectives and prosecutors for their efforts.
“We could never have believed that it could come to this,” he said. “We have lost two brothers. One is in jail, and the other is in his grave.”