Obituaries 316
Na’Jay Williams-White, 18, an aspiring rapper who loved sweet potato pie
Na’Jay Williams-White loved sweet potato pie with a graham cracker crust. “On Thanksgiving he’d take a whole pie and eat it with a spoon,” his mother Sharee Booker said. “He wouldn’t share it.” Na’Jay was shot and killed Nov. 5, 2018, but that didn’t stop Sharee from making sure his favorite pie was part of […]
Jahree Pray, 19: ‘He was the one who tied us all together’
When Lisa Hall talks about her grandson Jahree Robert Pray, she uses a special term of endearment. “He’s my little infant,” she said. “Even when he was big, he always wanted to lay on me, and I would say, ‘That’s my little infant,’ and he would say, ‘I’m grown,’ and I would say, ‘You’re still […]
John Heggie, 30, ‘angelic spirit’ working two jobs
The above image, John Heggie, was created by artist Celeste Schor as part of the 2020-2021 Souls Shot Portrait Project exhibition. ___________________________________________________________________________ When John Heggie III went with Teresa Prescott to a Senegalese restaurant in West Philadelphia, he had no idea what he was in for. It was his first time eating African cuisine, so […]
Shawn Rankins, 28: “My son had a loving heart”
His family and the Philadelphia Eagles were what Shawn Rankins loved the most, his mother Shawna said. “Shawn’s main goal was to take care of me and my mom and to show his siblings a different path than what he took,” she said. He had made mistakes in the past. Starting in his teenage years, […]
Tyler Mulligan, 17, dreamed of traveling the world
When John Mulligan was the chief of the LaMott Fire Department in Cheltenham, he stopped into the fire house with his three sons, Xavier, Donovan and Tyler to sign paperwork on his day off. Tyler was acting up, so John sent him to stand in the corner. A fire alarm pull station was within reach, […]
Elba Monroig, 61, loving, caring and independent
Elba Monroig had been fiercely independent all of her life. And when her diabetes left her confined to a wheelchair and partially blind, that didn’t change. “She wanted to do everything on her own, and we knew she couldn’t because of her condition, so she would become very stubborn,” said Elba’s youngest sister, Maria Rosario. […]
Najee Jones, 25, tradesman who attended college on a football scholarship
Najee Jones excelled at football. Wearing his #71 jersey, he was a standout defensive and offensive lineman for Imhotep Charter High School’s team, and his stats landed him a college scholarship. At Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, he majored in plumbing technology — his father was in the same field — and went […]
Tyree Shaw, 20: ‘There are still a lot of questions that we have’
The above image, Tyree Shaw, was created by artist Juliette Watts as part of the 2021-2022 Souls Shot Portrait Project exhibition. _____________________________________________________________________________ Born eight years apart, Latasha Shaw and her little brother Tyree had a close relationship. When they were growing up in Germantown, she took him with her wherever she went, including to the […]
Jose DeJesus, 44, a poet who loved laughing, monkeys and umbrellas
When Jose De Jesus was 17, he rented a limousine and went on a road trip to New York with his friends and older sister. They couldn’t stop laughing. They even got the driver laughing with them the whole time. “We had such a good time, and that memory really sticks out to me, because we […]
Najir Peterson, 20: ‘Mom, you pushed me, and I did it, and this paper is for you’
The proudest moment of Najir Imir Nathan Peterson’s life was when he graduated from Camelot Academy in 2017. He overcame a lot to get to that point. Najir was sick as a child and suffered from seizures. At school, he had learning differences and a speech impairment, which led to him being bullied. Najir went […]
Jovanni Oyola, 19: ‘Whatever it took to get you to smile’
Jovanni Oyola always danced and sang at parties in his North Philadelphia neighborhood. Family members like his uncle Wilfredo Pedraza knew they could rely on Jovanni to provide entertainment at these gatherings. “Jovanni lit up the room with a song and dance, he’d tell jokes, or do whatever it took to get you to smile,” […]
Fifteen years later, Jermaine Scott’s family still awaits justice
The last time Jermaine Christopher Scott spent quality time with his favorite niece was June 25, 2009. Sherri Norwood turned 17 that day, and it also happened to be the day his idol Michael Jackson died. “I had a dinner party and he made my day really special,” Sherri said. “He made sure I had […]
Kierra Johnson, 21, art student who loved to dance in the rain with her mother
Kierra Roberta Jeanette Johnson was an “ever-changing chameleon,” her mother Ree Johnson said while sitting in her parents’ living room in Upper Darby. She cycled through different hair colors — pink, blue, purple and white — and different styles, from a mohawk to dreadlocks. One day Ree and Kierra met up at the dollar store […]
Zakiyy Allford, 20, hoped to attend culinary school, open a business with his grandmother
Not every 20-year-old wants to open up a business with their grandmother, but Zakiyy Yasir Allford wasn’t just anyone. “I cook, my mother could cook, my grandmother could cook,” Zakiyy’s grandmother, Sonya Dixon, listed off. “We come from a long line of cooks.” Zakiyy inherited the family talent and was putting his life together, dreaming […]
Mikhaul Armstead, 23, a ‘mama’s boy’ who excelled in the boxing ring
After overcoming some challenges in life — dyslexia, being sent to live in Western Pennsylvania when his mother was sick, brushes with the law — Mikhaul Samir Armstead was finally on the right path. He was making a name for himself in the world of boxing and was training night and day. Every morning, he […]
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