The night that Josue Rosario and Nakesha Rodriguez met, they were both 19 and in a VIP area of a club in Philadelphia.
“He was trying to get me to sit on his lap and I said, ‘No, I don’t know you,’” she said with a laugh. “The moment we first met, we were arguing.”
They ran into each other again in his neighborhood, and that led to their first date. Their love story was complicated by his incarcerations as well as a breakup, but all in all they were together for nearly a decade, until he died on Nov. 9, 2018.
“We’ve always had love for each other,” she said. “I’ve always been there for him. There’s something in me that I could never let him go.”
Josue, whose nickname was Josh, was born Sept. 23, 1989 in Philadelphia. He had three brothers and a sister and loved being surrounded by family.
Nakesha described him as, silly, outgoing and very persistent — he would never give up on something. He knew how to cook and took culinary classes, and he was also certified for cutting hair.
He was a big reader, too, devouring classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, Wuthering Heights and Moby Dick.
Their relationship had its ups and downs, but Josue and Nakesha had an unbreakable bond.
“Even when we’d argue, we’d still stay on the phone together,” she said. “He was someone you couldn’t stay mad at for long.”
Unfortunately, Josue was in a pattern of incarceration for a number of years, serving time then going back shortly thereafter. It made it difficult for him to parent the two children he shared with Nakesha, 9-year-old Elijah and 7-year-old Genevieve. Josue also has another daughter, Jayliana, 6, from a relationship he had while he and Nakesha were split up.
“If he had the opportunity to be there instead of being in and out of jail, he would’ve been a good dad,” she said. “He was lovable. He was good at giving love. He called us every day and we’d video chat. He wasn’t a bad person, he just made bad decisions. He wasn’t a bad person.”
Josue always talked about moving to Florida. He would be able to relocate when he was off parole in December 2018, so Nakesha and their kids moved there first to get settled.
But that’s not how it worked out. Josue was shot about two months before his planned move to Florida, and remained in a coma for a week.
Nakesha flew back up to Philadelphia to be there while he was in the hospital, but had to go back to take care of her kids and wasn’t able to come back to Philly for the funeral.
To keep Josue’s memory alive, Nakesha has pictures of him hanging up in their apartment and they talk about him constantly.
“That’s something I did even before he was gone,” she said. “I can’t help but talk about him because I love him so much.”
An award of up to $20,000 if available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Josue’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
Date: 2018-11-09
Location: 200 W Cambria, Philadelphia, PA
