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 onto have a thriving career as a plumbing contractor.
In early August of this year, he phoned his mother, Lisa Dorman, and told her he just landed a big contract.
“He called me on my lunch break and he was so excited about it,” she said. “I didn’t get a chance to get much information from him at the time, and I said, ‘We’ll talk more when I get home,’ but we never got a chance to have that conversation.”
Around 8:15 that evening, on Aug. 5, 2019, Najee was behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Impala driving in the 2300 block of Marshall Street in South Philadelphia, near 6th and Wolf, when an unidentified person with a gun opened fire. Najee was shot once in the back of the head and killed.
It’s not clear why Najee was in South Philly at the time — Lisa said he wasn’t familiar with that area of the city, having spent most of his life in Olney — and so far police have not made any arrests.
Najee was born June 4, 1994 to Lisa and his father, Shakar Bey, in Philadelphia. He was the baby of the family: He had two older brothers, Shakar and Nasir, and their household also included Lisa’s niece, Alicia, who was born two years before Najee.
“As a child he was very playful, he liked to joke around, and he was very active — in elementary school and middle school he was into basketball, but in high school he got into football,” Lisa said. “He loved playing with his brothers and his cousins. He was fun-loving and had a lot of friends.”
He started attending Bethel Deliverance International Church in Wyncote when he was four, and remained part of the church community until his death. Members of the church watched him grow up and were devastated when he died, Lisa said.
When he was a teenager he became interested in cars. In fact, after graduating from Imhotep in 2012, he initially majored in automotive tech at Thaddeus Stevens.
“He ended up doing really well with cars, even though he did a lot of plumbing work, he was able to fix cars and he literally built the car he was driving that day,” Lisa said. “People were always coming to him for help with their car.”
Najee was always happy to help, and that went beyond car repair. After his death, Lisa learned about the many ways he positively affected the lives of those around him.
“He was a person that a lot of people trusted and confided in, and he was a person that a lot of people feel protected around. He had a really big heart and he was always there,” Lisa said. “I’ve been getting so many testimonies — people would pull up in the car when I’d be sitting outside just to tell me all of the things Najee did to touch their heart.”
One of Najee friends told her about how when he was at his lowest point and had nowhere to go, Najee came and got him and let him stay with him. Neighbors described how he’d run out of the house and help them bring in their groceries, and he was always happy to help with snow shoveling. There are so many stories like that.
Najee was also known for his big smile and for telling everyone around him that he loved them before parting ways or ending phone calls.
During warm weather, Najee was all about getting together with loved ones and grilling.
“He loved to have barbecues — that was his favorite,” Lisa said. “Gathering around with family and friends, listening to music and enjoying fellowship and having a good time. He loved to do that. Every birthday, he’d be like, ‘Mom, you know I want to have a barbecue.’”
And so after his funeral on Aug. 12, his family had a barbecue for the repast.
Najee lived with Lisa, and they were together all the time. They went food and clothes shopping together, he took care of things around the house, and now she is left wondering why Najee was taken from her and how she’ll move forward without him.
“I miss everything about him. I miss his smile, I miss talking to him, I miss him sharing things with me,” Lisa said. “We would talk on the phone two or three times a day, and he was just a big part of my life. We had a really close bond and I just miss him so much. He was so special to me. He was my baby.”
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 Najee’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
