Dawn Victoria Williams was at a bar with a friend in 2019 when Rasheed Marion caught her eye.
“I was checking him out, but then I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not at a place where I want to be in a relationship,’” she said.
Not long after that, they found themselves at the same bar again. This time, Dawn saw something special in Rasheed’s brown eyes and bright white smile. They exchanged numbers and spoke periodically, and by the beginning of 2020, they were both smitten.
Rasheed was thoughtful, caring and kind, mild-tempered, reserved and quiet, Dawn said.
At the core of their relationship was a solid friendship that blossomed during the COVID-19 lockdown. They could spend hours hanging out laughing at sitcoms.
“We both loved Twizzlers and ‘Good Times,’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ was our favorite,” Dawn said. “We also loved ‘Two Broke Girls.’ We had so much in common.”
Rasheed worked as a cook at a university dining hall, which he enjoyed, but his goal was to be an entrepreneur and have his own food truck. He liked to come up with his own creations, like specialty burgers oozing with cheddar cheese.
His dream would go unfulfilled. Rasheed was shot and killed in the 2500 block of North Sydenham Street in North Philadelphia on June 15, 2020, allegedly in connection with a dispute with a neighbor over fireworks. Police have not made any arrests.
Rasheed was born Sept. 26, 1976 and had three children, ages 25, 17 and 10. He practiced Islam and his religion was very important to him.
In addition to owning his own business, Rasheed had other goals. He wanted to help his parents, and he “wanted to be better today than he was yesterday,” Dawn said.
Although he was reserved, Rasheed had an animated storytelling style, punctuating his speech with “boom.”
“He’d be like, ‘I went to the store and then boom. And I did that and then boom. Then I did this and then boom,’” Dawn said, laughing. “I told him, ‘Ooh, you should go to acting school.’”
Dawn is left wondering what their future could have been. Shortly before his death, she was getting ready to introduce Rasheed to her mother. And he had been dropping hints about a gift he was going to give her for her birthday.
“He said he had something special for me, and I truly believe it was a ring,” Dawn said.
Instead of an engagement ring on her ring finger, Dawn now has a tattoo bearing her sweetheart’s name.
Rasheed is laid to rest at Chelten Hills Cemetery in Germantown.
A suspect was arrested on March 9, 2021 in connection to Rasheed’s homicide. The suspect was charged with murder, possession of a firearm without a license and related offenses.
Date: 2020-06-15
Location: 2500 N Sydenham St, Philadelphia, PA
