The 46-year-old homeless man assaulted and killed in front of a Hoboken apartment building late Tuesday afternoon was a talented breakdancer and gymnast until an eerily similar attack 27 years ago left him brain-damaged, his childhood sweetheart and former wife told The Jersey Journal.

Around 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, Ralph Erick Santiago, a father and grandfather whose last known address was on Garden Street, was found dead with his neck lodged in a fence on Third Street near Jefferson. Officials believe he was attacked from behind by more than one person, but a possible motive hasn't yet been determined.

Twenty-seven years ago, Santiago was also attacked from behind, Tracy Squillini, 46, who now lives in in Goshen, N.Y, said .

He was walking home with friends in a public housing complex in New York when he was attacked, she said. His head was pounded into the sidewalk over and over, leaving him in a month-long coma.

Santiago and Squillini had lived a block away from each other in the Bronx while growing up and had gotten married when they were 18 years old, she said.

At the time, Santiago was a talented break dancer and gymnast, who was funny and would always laugh away any problems, she said.

But then, 27 years ago, when Squillini was eight months pregnant, Santiago was brutally assaulted.

When she went to identify him at the hospital, the only way she knew it was him was from a birthmark on his hand, she said.

The doctors told her he would never wake up again. A month later he did but the “coma took so much away from him,” she said.

By that time their son, Matthew, had been born.

Matthew would never see the father that Squillini had fallen in love with. When he awoke, Santiago “screamed like a child” and was unable to bathe or dress himself, Squillini said.

Santiago, whose motor skills were limited, was brain-damaged, she said. He went through years of therapy and was left with a head tremor and needed medication to prevent seizures.

The couple divorced a year later but have continued to be family friends, she said.

Squillini, who has since remarried and is a police officer, said that after the attack she looked after him, helping to get him rehabilitation services.

The last time Santiago saw his son Matthew, now 26, was 10 years ago, but they talked with each other on the phone, she said.

When Matthew was young Santiago would come to baseball matches like other fathers, she said. Matthew now has a 1-year-old daughter, Erilynn, with his girlfriend.

The last time Squillini spoke to Santiago was one year ago, right after he was evicted from his apartment because he was unable to afford the rent.

Until his death, Santiago used to have breakfast every morning at the Hoboken Shelter with his mother, who had looked after him during his adult life until her health declined, Squillini said.

“I loved him, not in that romantic way anymore, but because he was truly my friend,” Squillini said.

Santiago’s problems may have gone beyond his disability, according to Douglas (who asked that his last name be withheld), who said he knew him from Alcoholics Anonymous. Douglas said Santiago came across as a “troubled person” at meetings and talked about having used drugs and alcohol in his past.

“This is obviously very sad,” Douglas added.

Santiago’s neck was broken, and officials suspect Santiago may have been followed by two or three individuals, Hudson County Prosecutor's Officer spokesman Gene Rubino said. One of them struck Santiago in the head from behind, causing him to fall with his head wedging between two posts, Rubino said.

Officials are still waiting for results from the Medical Examiner’s Office and the investigation is ongoing, Rubino said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at (201) 915-1345. All calls will be kept confidential. Santiago’s murder is the 16th homicide in the county in 2013.

Journal staff writer Aiyana Cronk contributed to this story.