Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza on Monday in New York. Their alleged killer, Randy Santos, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday.

Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza on Monday in New York. Their alleged killer, Randy Santos, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Sunday. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

They were homeless, but not without faces or friends who knew that living on the street should not be a death sentence.

“He was so sweet and kind and very polite,” a heartbroken friend said of Chuen Kwok, 83, one of four homeless men beaten to death with a metal pipe early Saturday morning in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

“When he had a job, he was very hardworking. I can’t believe he died like this. I miss him so much.”

Two of the other three victims who died were identified Monday as Nazario A. Vazquez Villegas, 55, Anthony L. Manson, 49. Authorities have been unable to identify the final victim.

A mourner pays tribute to one of the four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza Monday in Chinatown.

A mourner pays tribute to one of the four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza Monday in Chinatown. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

The medical examiner said Monday all four men who died perished from blunt impact head trauma and had skull fractures and brain injuries.

Kwok’s friend, who gave her name only as Kim and who lives in Chinatown, said Kwok was originally from Hong Kong and that sometimes she brought him food.

"He was a kind and humble gentleman,” Kim said. “I used to talk to him in Cantonese.“

One of the murdered victims is removed from the crime scene early Saturday in Chinatown.

One of the murdered victims is removed from the crime scene early Saturday in Chinatown. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News)

Her friend, Shirley Ng, said that when they heard the news of the senseless murders, they rushed to the corner where Kwok usually stayed, fearing the worst.

“Unfortunately he was one of the victims that was brutally killed while sleeping,” Ng said.

Ng said Kwok once lived on East Houston St. and she believes he traveled long distances to work service industry jobs.

Cops arrested Randy Santos, 24, near the scene shortly after the attacks and charged him with four counts of murder, and one account of attempted murder. He is being held without bail on Rikers Island.

A fifth victim of the brutal pipe attack, a 49-year-old man, remains in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He has a skull fracture and wounds to his shoulder and right index finger.

Randy Santos is arraigned in criminal court for the murder of four homeless men Sunday in New York.

Randy Santos is arraigned in criminal court for the murder of four homeless men Sunday in New York. (Rashid Umar Abbasi/AP)

“They were extremely disturbing,” O’Neill said of the videos. “At this point in the investigation, it seems to be random.”

“We have the perpetrator coming upon individuals that appear to be sleeping,” O’Neill added. “We have two Asians, two Hispanics and an African-American man of different ages. We don’t have anything to suggest at this point there’s a prior history between them. It appears to be random.”

During Santos’ arraignment Sunday prosecutors said he admitted to investigators he was the man captured on video committing the attacks.

A police officer stands near the scene of one of the attacks Saturday morning.

A police officer stands near the scene of one of the attacks Saturday morning. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

O’Neill said police homeless outreach units were hitting the streets.

Comptroller Scott Stringer, at a Chinatown vigil honoring the victims, slammed the mayor’s housing policy and described the city’s homeless policy as “fundamentally misdirected.”

He said affordable housing needs to be provided for the most vulnerable in society making less than $30,000 a year.

“Why are we building affordable housing that’s simply unaffordable for the people who need it the most?” Stringer said.

Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza on Monday.

Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial at Confucius Plaza on Monday. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

Rep. Nydia Velásquez, holding up a picture of Kwok, said every aspect of the incident reflects badly on the city.

“Shame on us,” she said. “The perpetrator, too, is suffering from mental illness and drug addiction.”

Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niuo, who cried during her remarks, said it’s clear from the murders that New York City lacks a holistic system to address the issue of homelessness.

“This incident is a symptom of a broken system that ignores the voices of our most vulnerable community members,” she said. “When we walk down the streets here, we’re reminded daily because their blood is still there. If the change isn’t now, after this, I don’t know when it is.”

Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial Monday in Chinatown.

Mourners pay tribute to four slain homeless men at a rally and memorial Monday in Chinatown. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

Santos’ last known address was a men’s homeless shelter on Clarkson Ave in Brooklyn. Cops said Monday he has six unsealed prior arrests and 11 sealed arrests, including arrests for three assaults dating back to 2015.

On May 13, Santos punched a 24-year-old fellow resident of the Clarkson Ave. shelter in the face during an argument, cops said. He was charged with assault in that case.

Ng said the Chinatown community has been left rattled by the horrific quadruple murder.

“I’m very shocked,” Ng said. “I was raised here in Chinatown, We care. We care about the community a lot.”

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