An uncle remembers Harry Lee Brown

Harry Lee Brown, the 50-year-old homeless man who died this week after being beaten for $5 in north Minneapolis, hadn't been living on the streets during the time that he was killed, according to family.

"He was just kind of staying here and there," said Timothy Withers, 71, Brown's uncle.

Brown was originally from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, his uncle said. He came to the Twin Cities in the early 1980s. Withers said, Brown stayed with him when he first got into town.

Brown never was able to hold a steady job, Withers said. Up to recently, Brown would sometimes cut grass and do other chores for money.

Withers said he was always worried about what could happen to Brown.

"I used to tell him to get himself together and everything," he said.

The two of them hadn't talked in a few weeks when Withers found a business card from a sheriff out on his porch and was told about what happened to his nephew.

Withers and other family visited Brown in the hospital, but his nephew never regained consciousness.

Withers said he'd remember Brown as a guy who "could just make friends with just about anybody" and loved watching sports.

"I still can't believe it," Withers said.

Brown is survived by a son, who lives in South Carolina. His funeral will be held in Arkansas.