Gun Violence 250
Thalyl ‘Baby 9’ Taylor, 17, 2nd son killed, with funeral disrupted by coronavirus
Thalyl Rashiem Taylor didn’t have the easiest start in life. He was born with underdeveloped lungs, and he was hospitalized frequently with asthma. But that didn’t stop him from playing basketball. At about 5 feet 6 inches, he wasn’t the tallest on the team, but he was good, and had dreams of making it big. […]
Raheem Stoner, 38, lead carpenter for the city with his own business—who loved family game night
Raheem and Camille Stoner first locked eyes in the late ‘90s when they were in their early teens. They met on a Friday, and by Monday, they were a couple. Raheem was her first and only love. “He was cute,” Camille said. “I was a young teenager, and I thought, ‘Who is this cute, tall […]
James Harry Devlin Jr., 26, loving father whose murder goes unsolved for 35 years
When Ryan Devlin was a young child, she contracted a virus that made her temporarily unable to walk. Her parents were separated at the time, and she recalls her father, James Harry Devlin Jr., coming to visit with gifts she’d treasure for years. “He brought me a bunch of Michael Jackson posters,” she said. “That […]
Donte Felix Smith, 27, ‘holidays weren’t complete until he finally showed the hell up’
The above image, Place I Belong, was created by artist Laura Orfanelli as part of the 2020-2021 Souls Shot Portrait Project exhibition. _____________________________________________________________________________ You could never stay mad at Donte Smith. He would simply lift up his pant legs and flash a pair of mismatched theme socks decorated with dogs, Doritos or hamburgers. “He was […]
Quantico Brunson, a smiling 17-year-old who aspired to build schools
When Quantico Mareno Brunson pictured his future, he saw himself playing football for the Temple Owls, becoming an engineer and building things. “He always said he wanted to build schools and houses,” his mother Shantice Wideman said. “He wanted to build a big old house with 15 rooms so all of my family can be […]
Quadir Flippen, 31, executive chef who championed black engagement on Mayor’s Office panel
Every Sunday, a homeless man would eat food out of Quadir Flippen’s trash can. Quadir, an executive chef at a cafe in Point Breeze, thought he deserved better. “My brother made sure he had a plate,” his sister Nashiya Pinder said. “My brother would cook for him on Sundays and give him something to eat. […]
Javier ‘Naji’ Conde, 39: ‘He was trying to live a more quiet life’
Sparks flew when Javier Conde and Leticia met. She was serving drinks to make extra cash and Javier knew the owner of the bar, and over time they discovered they had a lot in common. “We basically hit it off,” said Leticia, who did not want her last name to be used. “We liked the […]
Jahsun Patton, 18, college-bound football player, actor who ‘had that success thing’
No matter how late Jahsun Ahmad Patton stayed up at night, he still made sure he was up in time to make the long trip from his Northeast Philadelphia home to Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School in West Philadelphia. “I would hear him still up at 2 a.m., then I’d hear him closing the […]
Juwan Evans, 23, launched a clothing line with dreams for a store
At age 23, Juwan Donte Evans had left his past behind him and putting his energy into something positive: A clothing line. “He changed his life and he got himself together and that’s how he created Blockworks,” said his mother, Tiffany Hudson. “He went from the block to working and started selling clothes.” Juwan sold […]
Michael Strong, 21, would give the shirt off his own back, or even a TV
If a friend needed something and Michael Strong Jr. could provide it, he’d do so happily. When he was in high school, Michael’s friends would converge on their home in North Philadelphia after his mother, Sylvia Murray, left for work, and Michael would make breakfast for everyone using food from Sylvia’s last grocery haul. Sometimes […]
Richard Riley, 21, CCP student who dreamed of being an entrepreneur
No matter what the situation or who he was around, Richard Riley was true to his own spirit, his sister Synquetta Walker said, and that made him unique. “This is something that I feel a lot of young men struggle with, because they’re trying to find out who they are or what they are or […]
Alex Ledino, 20, dirt-bike rider who liked ‘stuff nobody else would do’
Alex Jeremy Ledino loved the adrenaline rush of riding dirt bikes through the city. He would do stunts like riding on top of parked cars, and he didn’t limit his riding just to bikes. He also had a Hoveround motorized wheelchair that he’d use to zip around the neighborhood. “He liked to do stuff nobody […]
Emilio Lopez, 18, a humble kid who loved Spanish cooking
When Nilsa Romero had her second son, Emilio, she was a stay-at-home mom for two years, which she was not able to do with her other two children. As a result, she and Emilio had an especially close relationship. “I would never say I have a favorite child, because as a mother you just don’t […]
Jose ‘Pichy’ Rivera, 46, owned a sports bar, loved baseball
When Jose Luis Rivera bought Prime Time Sports Bar in North Philadelphia about six years ago, his family was worried. His mother, especially, didn’t like the neighborhood, and she expressed that to him. “He said everything would be OK and nothing was going to happen,” his younger sister Carmen Agosto said. But on the night […]
Tysheem Pennock, 20: ‘He was trying to be a better everything’
February 2019 was a significant month in Tysheem Pennock’s life. First, his daughter Allure was born on Feb. 16, 2019. And two days later, Tysheem turned 20 years old. Tysheem’s family noticed a major shift in him after the birth of his daughter. “It changed him dramatically,” his aunt Nicole Stone said. “When he was […]
Subscribe to our newsletter
Follow us on Facebook
Most viewed
Neighborhoods
Every month, we create a placeholder webpage for each person murdered in Philadelphia. Our hope is to elevate these pages into fully written stories with photos that show who each victim was as a person. Through storytelling, we're shining a light on the human toll of gun violence in Philadelphia.