The victim, 43-year-old Marcin Iwanowicz, was fatally shot the morning of Dec. 24 on Powell Street in Brownsville.
At the Midwood home Iwanowicz once shared with his father, an urn containing his ashes now sits in the living room.
"I light a candle," said Marcin's father, Stanislaw Iwanowicz. "Part of my heart disappeared with him."
The two had planned to spend Christmas together, but Marcin never returned home.
Stanislaw said Marcin had a few hundred dollars in his pocket while running errands that morning, money he believes may have made him a target.
"Just shooting somebody for no reason, for a few hundred bucks," Stanislaw said. "Even animals are better than those people."
For weeks, the suspect remained at large, a period Stanislaw said took a toll on his health.
"I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. I cannot do anything," he said. "Just adrenaline keeps me up."
Now, with an arrest made, Stanislaw said he is placing his faith in the court system to deliver justice for his son.
Still, one question continues to haunt him.
"What did he get from this?" Stanislaw said. "I don't know. It was all for nothing."
Stanislaw said he hopes to send Marcin's ashes to Poland so his son can be laid to rest alongside his mother.