A large number of relatives and friends of Gregory Johnson were in court this morning for the arraignment of Marquis Taylor, who is accused of stabbing Johnson to death Monday afternoon.

"He killed my boy," Johnson's father, Gregory Johnson Sr., shouted out in the courtroom as he left in tears, clutching a framed picture of his son, who was 25.

Outside court, the elder Johnson stood crying and contesting the fact that bail was set for his son's accused killer.

"It's not fair. It's not fair," he said.

Taylor, 18, of 123 Maurice Ave. was arraigned before City Judge Kate Rosenthal, who set bail at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond. Defense lawyer Christina Cagnina waived the case out of City Court directly to a grand jury for future consideration.

Syracuse police said Taylor and Michael Morris had a beef with each other that had gone on for days. The two had agreed to settle their issues Monday in the parking lot of Johnson's Auto Repair at 628 Valley Drive. They both arrived shortly after 2 p.m. Taylor had a 12-inch chef's knife. Morris had a box cutter. But they agreed to have a fair fight and both handed their weapons off to others.

Shortly after they squared off, Taylor retrieved his knife from one of the bystanders. Johnson intervened and struck Taylor over the head with a broken piece of wood, Chief Gary Miguel said. Taylor then stabbed Johnson.

Taylor is charged with first-degree manslaughter under the theory he was trying to seriously injure, not kill, Johnson at the time he caused Johnson's death.

Cagnina said Taylor contends he acted in self-defense. She said he initially was chased from the scene but returned and surrendered to police after he went home and talked to his parents. Cagnina said Taylor provided police a full written statement about the incident.

Cagnina said the original dispute between Taylor and Morris "doesn't appear to be anything other than a personality conflict."