Acquanetta A. Sutton never thought she’d be a mother. Doctors told her she would not be able to bear children, but she ultimately proved them wrong.
On July 25, 1999, after 30 hours of labor, Acquanetta gave birth to her only child, Saleem West.
“He was my miracle baby,” she said. “He changed my whole life.”
As a child growing up in Southwest Philadelphia, Saleem was inquisitive and intelligent, and he also had a playful side that helped him make a lot of friends, Acquanetta remembers. But no one meant more to him than his mom.
Asked what Saleem valued most in life, Acquanetta said, “Me. We had a very close bond — it was just me and him.”
In the fall of 2015, Saleem was a junior at Delaware Valley Charter High School. He had just made the varsity basketball team — he played point guard — and he was getting ready to start looking at colleges. His dream was to play college ball and join the NBA.
“We were just trying to make it in life,” Acquanetta said. “He loved basketball. It was his whole life.”
Saleem had gotten into some trouble due to hanging out with the wrong crowd, and she did all she could to intervene. He had begun seeing a new therapist and it looked like he was headed in the right direction, but Acquanetta wouldn’t get a chance to see her son grow into a man.
Saleem was riding his bicycle through the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia on Nov. 1, 2015 when he was fatally shot. He was 16 years old.
Two 17-year-olds were arrested within days of the shooting, and both were convicted in connection with Saleem’s murder.
Life has been lonely without her son, but Acquanetta has found strength in a support group for mothers of murder victims called Voices by Choices. She has also reached a point in her healing that she can forgive the boys who killed her son.
“Saleem was loved and he was very special, and he is missed,” she said.
Saleem is laid to rest at Friends Southwest Burial Ground.
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
