The friends and family of one of the men killed in a fatal gun fight outside a wake in Flatbush last week say he was a man redeemed and trying to escape a violent past.

Sharieff Clayton, 40, was raised in Brooklyn and lived in the Bronx with his family. Police say he was among two killed and four injured in a dispute between him and another man.

Clayton and 44-year-old Ronald Murphy were killed and four others injured. Police say the argument was the culmination of an old feud and that several of the victims had criminal records.

Maurice Clayton says his cousin Sharieff was a father, husband, author and community activist who had outgrown an unsavory past.

"The legacy that he wanted to leave for all youth in this community and every community was the story of his redemption and the story of how he wanted his community and America to change," says Ian Clayton, another cousin.

Even City Councilman Jumaane Williams joined friends and family in praising that legacy.

"What he stood for is the opposite of what happened here," says Rob DeLeon, a co-worker of Clayton's.

So far, there have been no arrests related to the incident.