Troy West loved to draw, capturing family members and inanimate objects on his sketching pad. He wrote poems with such flair that his male friends asked him to pen love letters to their girlfriends so they could pass the sweet words off as their own. And he often spent hours listening to his vast music collection, smooth oldies that reminded him of his days growing up in Dorchester.

It was a 42-year life embedded in the arts, a life that was brutally silenced by at least 25 stab wounds. His body was found Monday on a park bench not far from the home he shared with his niece. Police have not made any arrests in the case.