May 11, 2018 wouldn’t just have been Erica McClellan’s 18th birthday, but also her senior prom.
“When school went back in session this year, and she got her senior itinerary, the first thing she texted me was, ‘Mom, my senior prom is on my 18th birthday. I’m gonna save all my money, because I want to do it big,’” Shonda McClellan, Erica’s mother, said.
Erica’s life was cut short on Nov. 12, 2017. She was murdered in Southwest Philadelphia by a family friend, according to police.
“When her 18th birthday comes around on May 11, I should be out there doing it up for prom instead of visiting her grave site,” Shonda said. “I shouldn’t have to walk up on that stage and accept her diploma. It should be her.”
There are so many milestones that Erica was unable to reach, but throughout her life, she was always a go-getter. If she wanted something, she would make it happen.
“She went and got her first job on her 16th birthday,” Shonda said. “She went on the interview and got hired the same day.”
Ever since her 16th birthday, Erica had been working at Sonic Drive-In. She was saving money for all of the things she wanted –– big things like her senior prom, along with working to build up her collection of New Balance sneakers.
“I never told her that she had to get a job, we told her, ‘as long as you do right in school, we got you, you don’t have to go out and work, work is optional.’ But she was determined to work,” Shonda said. “Out of all of her friends, she was a go-getter. She brought home over $400 every two weeks.”
While Erica wasn’t completely sure about what she was going to do once she graduated high school, she had just decided that she would pursue a college degree.
“We had just started talking about college,” Shonda said. “This senior year she really was working and decided that she did want to go to college, so we were in the process of filling out the FAFSA forms. She was meeting with her counselors and stuff like that.”
She always worked hard, but friends and family would also describe the 17-year-old as being “feisty,” someone who was never afraid to speak her mind. Some people have gone as far to say, “that girl [is] crazy.”
“She was my rebellious child, but not in a bad way. [She was] very respectful, but she’s going to to speak her mind. If she was wrong, she could say, ‘Mom, I was wrong,’ or tell the teacher, ‘I had a bad day, I apologize.’”
Erica’s voice was immediately recognizable. Her deep, raspy sound could not be ignored by anyone.
“She couldn’t whisper, everyone knew her voice,” Shonda said. “She was loud. You couldn’t walk on the block without her screaming your name.”
Her voice, her confidence and her love for her family were just a few of Erica’s great characteristics.
When asked what she wanted for her 17th birthday, she simply requested that her family come together for a dinner.
“She said, ‘I just want to go out to dinner, all of us, like we used to,’” Shonda said. “She was real happy for us to all be there, because we hadn’t done that in 2.5 years since we separated. So on her 17th birthday, we made it happen and did it for her.”
Shonda holds the good memories close to her, like a video of Erica singing (even though she remarks, “She couldn’t sing…I play that just to hear her voice”) and another of her and her daughter dancing together at a block party.
“Sometimes [she] was a pain in the butt, but we loved her, we loved her.”
Erica is survived by her mother, father, four brothers, two sisters and her grandparents.
Date: 2017-11-13
Location: 6800 Dicks Av, Philadelphia, PA
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From GoFundMe:
On November 12, 2017 our beloved Erica life was tragically taken away from us to soon. Erica was in her Senior year in High School with a promising future. She also was employed at Sonic Drive-In. The family is asking for any donations you may be able to give to help with the remaining cost of her funeral expenses.
Sorrowfully Submitted,
The Family
