Gun Violence 265
Henry Peterson Jr., 26, truck driver and ‘a real family man’
Henry J. Peterson Jr. loved to drive. He was usually the one behind the wheel whenever his family went anywhere together, and he never seemed to get tired of the road. In fact, he enjoyed driving so much that he turned it into a career. Henry’s father was a truck driver, and when Henry was […]
Zymiren Best, 19, outgoing guy who wanted to be a welder
Zymiren Best had a special yet unexplainable nickname for his mother: Slime. “Out of the blue, he’d text me, ‘What’s up with you, Slime? Cash App me ten dollars,” Bianca Best remembered with a smile in her voice. It’s the little, everyday things like this that she misses most. Zymiren was a senior at Camelot […]
Ramir Parrish, 21, ‘protector of the family’ who had daughter on the way
Like almost any young father, Ramir Parrish was scared before his son Hakeem was born, but it came easy to him. As he grew, they would play video games with Ramir’s brother, Syncere, who was the same age. Also known by his rap name ChuckyPnb, he also was teaching the boys how to rap like […]
Christopher Davis, 35, jokester who struggled with loss
Everyone in the family knew that Christopher Davis was his grandmother’s favorite. Christopher was Cloieand McDaniel’s first grandson and she raised him on East Stafford Street in Germantown, along with his three younger sisters. Christopher’s cousin and aunt also shared the three-bedroom home. “He could do no wrong in her eyes,” his sister, Ericka Charles, […]
Izim Greer-Plummer, 19, community protector who ’embodied family values’
Lucretia Greer believes in the power of forgiveness. It has been 15 years since the tragic murder of her brother, Izim Kareem Greer-Plummer. Though she still gets choked up when she mentions Izim’s name, she has a message to any young man boiling over with rage: Stop and think before grabbing a gun. This is […]
Amir Parks, 22, new dad who loved making people laugh
When Amir Khalid Parks was little, he learned how to do the Harlem Shake, but he was too shy to perform the dance in front of anyone. “We’d say, ‘Mir Mir, let me see the Harlem Shake,’ and he would laugh and say no, but if you told him you were going to give him […]
Juan Carlos Robles-Corana Jr., 15, charismatic go-getter who was determined to create wealth for his family
Before he even learned how to walk, Juan Carlos Robles-Corona Jr. would shake his chubby baby body to the beat. As a toddler, he would stop cold in the middle of the street and start dancing to blaring music from a passing car. “Whatever rhythm he had, he wanted to make sure that he was […]
Levan Kennedy, 18, gifted wordsmith who had a thirst for knowledge
“I get fly like Peter Pan. But I’m not from Neverland. I’m from Philly you can die in here if you don’t got a plan”-Levan Kennedy Levan Colin Kennedy had too many plans to accomplish in one lifetime. He set his sights on rapping and producing music, owning a solar-powered vending machine business, buying a […]
Charles Campbell Jr., 31, father of five who bent over backwards for his kids
Charles Campbell Jr. lavished attention on his four daughters and baby son. Even though some of his children had different mothers, he made sure to gather them together as one family, booking hotel rooms multiple times a year so that they could order room service, go swimming, and pick out toys at Five Below. After […]
Craig Hatchett Jr., 37, incognito poet and devoted caregiver
“F.E.A.R. has two meanings…face everything and run, or face everything and rise.” “Fake friends are like four (4) quarters, they change for a dollar.” “Death is most likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent, [it] clears out the old to make way for the new!” These were some of Craig […]
Kamaj Rudd, 19, ‘Big Kid’ Excited About Upcoming Graduation, Move to Florida
Katrina Juanita Crump knew that her fourth child would be her last, so she gave him her initials “KJ.” Born on March 9, 2002 in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, Kamaj Juanir Rudd was his mother’s sweetheart and a little gentleman. Whenever he saw her truck returning from work, he asked her about her day […]
Jose Aces, 23: ‘He just always wanted to be the one to take care of everything and everybody’
Savannah Stein met her first boyfriend at a cousin’s party when she was 14 years old and living in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. Jose Aces, one year older and a full foot taller, was the yin to Savannah’s yang. His father had been deported to Cuba when Jose was only about seven years […]
Michael Mines, 21, ‘Mr. Congeniality’ Who Outwitted Boxing and Chess Opponents
When the teacher made the kindergarten class line up by height, Michael “Mike Mike” Mines was always at the front. Small but speedy, Michael became everybody’s favorite class clown, mocking his friends for their jacked-up haircuts and burping loudly in class. One time, while waiting for his punishment in the principal’s office at W.C. Longstreth […]
Byron Dessiso, 36: ‘He’d always find a way out of nowhere”
Byron Dessiso, 36, of Hunting Park, a former high school football player and jujitsu enthusiast who would burst into tears at the sight of his young daughter bawling with a boo-boo, died July 11, 2022 — the same day he was about to start a new job — after being shot in Hunting Park, less […]
Tyrell Beatty, 34, proud father who owned his choices and defied the odds
As a boy growing up in North Philadelphia, Tyrell Beatty was obsessed with professional wrestling and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He watched his human idols on television with his grandmother, Cleo Bagwell. She rooted for The Undertaker and he cheered for The Ultimate Warrior, fidgeting as if he were tag teaming with the WWE […]
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