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 got up at 5 a.m. to run five miles, sometimes stopping by his mother’s house for breakfast and a shower.
Syreeta Armstead was proud of her son and looked forward to his continued success and happiness in life. She was also looking forward to cheering him on at what would have been the biggest fight of his life in New York.
But the night before the fight, on March 15, 2017, Mikhaul was found shot to death under a vehicle in the driveway of his home at 68th and Malvern in North Philadelphia.
“I miss my baby. Nobody can replace Mikhaul,” Syreeta said. “Mikhaul had a lot of great qualities about him. Always a gentleman. I just wish he was here right now. If he had a choice, he’d still be here. But he didn’t have that choice.”
Mikhaul was born Oct. 22, 1993 to Syreeta and his father, Michael Guyton. His brother, Tafiq, is just over a year older. Mikhaul went by “Kel” but Syreeta called him “Bump,” and from day one, he was a mama’s boy, she said.
Mikhaul drew this picture of Syreeta.
Syreeta was concerned about the violence in Philadelphia, so she and her sons moved to Pottstown in Montgomery County and stayed for four years, from 2001 to 2005. Mikhaul thrived during this time, learning how to swim, draw, read music and play the drums.
Syreeta had long believed that her son had an issue with reading, but he went undiagnosed until his school in Pottstown identified it: dyslexia.
She got him into a tutoring program and his school performance improved. He even made honor roll, with his name appearing in the local paper.
“Once he could read and keep up with the other kids, he was the perfect child,” Syreeta said.
Mikhaul had a special connection with animals and he’d use his lunch money to buy cans of cat food for stray cats. He also had a dog at one point, and a ferret.
But after a break-in at their home in Pottstown, Syreeta and her sons returned to Philly. Mikhaul tried a charter school and public school, but then he began attending Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School.
After three years, he wanted to go back to public school, but Syreeta said, “That’s where all of the problems were. I felt like the system is really at fault for a lot of these children. When I asked for help, they said there isn’t any help for him.”
Mikhaul (left) and his brother Tafiq.
So Syreeta did the best she could. She became involved with the Baptist church and Mikhaul would help out with projects in the annex. She enrolled Mikhaul and his brother in various sports programs — football, basketball and tennis as well as the Young Marines. And when Mikhail started boxing, he found his passion.
But in 2009, Syreeta, who has a chronic health condition that causes her to have strokes, had to move in with her mother so she could provide her with the care she needed. Syreeta didn’t want her sons living in her mother’s neighborhood, so she sent them to an all-boys residential school in Western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.
“I think I did an exceptional job as a mom and I gave my children the opportunity to not be in the streets,” she said. “If they didn’t want to listen to me, I’d take the next step in what thought I was best.”
At the residential school, Mikhaul built his mother a grandfather clock and a jewelry box, and he continued to play sports. But after three or four years, Syreeta had them come back to Philly. Her mother had her hands full taking care of grandchildren, and so she had Mikhaul and his brother return home to help Syreeta.
“It went downhill from that day,” she said.
Mikhaul training at the boxing gym.
Mikhaul started getting into fights and decided to carry a gun for protection. This led to a stint in prison, but when he got home, “he excelled in everything,” Syreeta said.
He enrolled in computer courses at ITT Tech and continued pursuing his passion, boxing.
Syreeta recalled the last time she saw Mikhaul in the boxing ring.
“His last fight was in Roxborough, and this guy was big and he had won all of his other fights and I was very scared for my son,” she said. “But he hit that boy one time, it was a wrap. He won the fight. So afterwards, I asked him, ‘Mikhaul, why would you fight him? I was so scared.’ And he said, ‘Mom, because I knew I could beat him.’ I was just hugging my son.”
More than two years after Mikhaul’s murder, no arrests have been made.
“It’s just mind-boggling to me. Why? Who did this? I just want someone to look at me in the face and tell me what happened. I will accept it — he’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do. But tell me why. That was my child.”
Syreeta at Mikhaul’s grave. She had one of his boxing belts lasered into the stone. The inscription reads, “Bump’s greatest fight won. Mom #1 fan.”
Mikhaul is laid to rest at Friends Southwest Burial Ground in Upper Darby.
He is survived by his parents, brother, extended family and his 6-year-old daughter, whom he met for the first time shortly before his death.
The City of Philadelphia is offering up to $20,000 as a reward for anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Mikhaul’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
Date: 2017-03-17
Location: 1000 N. 68th St, Philadelphia, PA
