NEW YORK - April 24, 2010 - The homeless Good Samaritan who lay dying on a Queens sidewalk while nearly 25 coldhearted pedestrians strolled by would never have acted so callously, his grieving family said today.

"That shouldn’t have happened," said Edwin Tacam, the cousin of slain hero Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax. "Hugo wouldn’t have done that. It’s not important who it is, if we see someone hurt, we should help, at least call an ambulance. Lend a hand."

Tale-Yax, 32, was fatally stabbed several times in the chest at 5:40 a.m. Sunday while saving a woman from a knife-wielding thug on 144th Street and 88th Road in Jamaica, according to police.

Video footage from a surveillance camera shows dozens of passers-by walk past him as he lay on the ground.

One indifferent stroller snapped a photo of the victim on his cell phone. Another even lifted an unresponsive Tale-Yax, saw a pool of blood below his body and then walked off. Firefighters didn’t receive a 911 call until 7:23 a.m.

"The news was very painful for all of us," Tacam said. "We never would have expected he would die this way. He was a person who always stepped up to help others."

A Guatemalan immigrant, Tale-Yax eked out a living working odd jobs, but he was recently out of work and lost his home in Queens. His family said he mostly kept to himself but frequently visited friends in Jamaica, where there is a large Guatemalan community.

"He lost his life trying to help someone else - that’s brave," Tacam said. "I guess you could say he was a hero."

Police said there are still no suspects in the attack. Tale-Yax’s body will be sent back on Friday to Guatemala, where his parents live.