A famous art collector was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver while walking his beloved dog in an affluent Boston neighborhood.
John Axelrod, 79, was intentionally mowed down on Saturday morning while walking his pup, Tale, prosecutors have alleged.
The wealthy donor and his dog lived in a $2.9 million apartment that overlooked a scenic lake in the ritzy Back Bay area.
Axelrod was strolling with a friend near the Commonwealth Avenue mall when he was killed, per the Boston Globe.
Commonwealth Avenue is a historic 32-acre walkway nestled into Boston’s Back Bay, with a pedestrian path in between luscious lawns.
Police responded to the call at the boulevard around 9am. Axelrod was rushed to hospital, where he later died.
The suspect, William Haney, 42, is being charged with murder and animal cruelty after police located his car in the Brookline suburb.
No additional information about Haney’s motive has been released, and he will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Monday.
John Axelrod holding his pup, Tale, on the streets of Boston near his million-dollar apartment
The 79-year-old has gifted and sold a number of important artworks by African-American artists to the Museum of Fine Arts
Axelrod lived in the Back Bay area in an apartment estimated to be worth around $2.9 million
Axelrod was known as a ‘generous supporter and passionate advocate for underrepresented artists,’ the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) said in a statement.
The benefactor had been deeply invested in the museum since the 1980s, and his death has rocked the local artistic community.
‘His legacy will live on at the museum through the John Axelrod Collection – a transformative acquisition of nearly 70 works by Black artists,’ the MFA said.
The John Axelrod Gallery in the Art of the Americas Wing was dedicated to him in 2009, standing as a tribute to his undying legacy.
The collector’s first work was donated to the museum in 1985, per the Globe, and his gifted pieces covered areas he felt were underrepresented and didn’t get the attention they deserved.
Axelrod had donated over 700 pieces, the museum said in 2014.
Part of a current exhibition in the John Axelrod Gallery at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts
Dog-walkers pass by the Boston Women’s Memorial in Commonwealth Avenue Mall
Axelrod (right) posing with a friend while walking Tale along the streets of Boston
‘His gift of 67 works of African American artists established the John Axelrod Collection in 2011,’ per the statement.
The 79-year-old was a New Jersey native who was a student at the Phillips Academy.
He went on to study at Yale University and Harvard Law School. The art enthusiast had an unwavering love for dogs.
His Facebook page is filled with a plethora of dog photos, including ones with him and Tale.
Silly dog memes are also shared on his social media page, along with sentimental portraits of Tale.
Axelrod also shared numerous photos of him walking his previous dog, Myrna, along the streets of Boston on a bright sunny day.