POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Several neighbors on Hoffman Avenue woke up on the morning of July 4 to discover that a close friend was killed while they were sleeping.

The original call came in to police as a stabbing at 1:48 a.m.

Police say 25-year-old Poughkeepsie resident Maurice Black was stabbed once in the chest by Michael Baker, 30, also of Poughkeepsie, at a home near the intersection of Main Street and Hoffman Avenue.

Baker has been charged with Murder in the 2nd degree.

The victim was taken to Mid Hudson Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead short time later.

"He's a very good kid, very nice, mannerly," said Carlette Weir, a close friend of Maurice Black.

Weir, a hair braider, said she had an upcoming appointment with him.

"I was supposed to do his hair today," she said, getting choked up.

Weir and several other neighbors described the victim as hardworking and an asset to this neighborhood.

"At whatever time I would see him, he's going down the street with a backpack. I'd ask him, 'Where are you going?' He'd say, 'I'm going to work,'" Weir recounted.

A man who identified himself as the victim's brother, who had just learned of the stabbing, dropped by the scene briefly on Wednesday morning, trying to find out more details.

He would only say that his brother was "a good kid."

Police have released few details about events leading up to the stabbing or a motive.

An autopsy was being conducted Wednesday morning while Baker was being arraigned on one count of second-degree murder, police said. 

Neighbor Jon Lowe, who lives across the street from the police tape, is among those who learned about the stabbing upon waking up on Wednesday.

"It's going to take me a couple more hours to really process it," Lowe said. "I'm trying to also be there for the rest of my neighbors. We all know everybody on the block. We're like a family out here."