18 & Under 38
Tyree Zellars, 18, always seeking knowledge from his elders
Tyree Zellars always gravitated towards his elders. He loved his whole family, but thrived with the wealth of knowledge and guidance his grandparents provided him. “He was a family boy, he really was,” Alane Zellars, Tyree’s mother, said. “When he got out of school, he would go home to check on his grandma, then he […]
Justin Reyes, 17, Lover of iguanas, dogs, snakes, tarantulas, scorpions and even eels
Iguanas, dogs, snakes, tarantulas, scorpions and even eels filled the North Philadelphia home of 17-year-old Justin Reyes. As Justin’s mother says, he owned and cared for “everything except farm animals.” Their home became a petting zoo attraction for all of Justin’s friends. Justin’s dream was to become a veterinarian or a zoo keeper. He cared […]
Rodney Copeland, 18, father-to-be who ‘just wanted to live life’
Rodney Copeland could see all of his high school milestones on the horizon. He was 18 years old, a senior in high school and getting ready to plan for his future. “He wanted to go to school, he wanted to graduate and was looking forward to going to prom,” Antoinette Garner, Rodney’s mother, said. “He […]
Hassan Kay, 18, cereal-obsessed teenager
Fruity Pebbles, Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops: 18-year-old Hassan Kay’s favorite foods came in the cartoon-covered, colorful boxes that line every grocery store’s cereal aisle. He could easily eat two to three boxes of cereal a day. Hassan was “hooked on it.” “I’d send him to the store and he’d come back with seven or eight […]
Markeish Amir Johnson, 18: ‘I can’t like everybody because everybody isn’t like me’
Markeish Amir Johnson wasn’t your average 18 year old. He loved his family, kept a small circle of friends and was respectful to everyone he crossed paths with. “I’d say, ‘You don’t have many friends,’ but he’d say, ‘I can’t like everybody because everybody isn’t like me,’” Markeish’s mother, Angela Parrish, recalled. Markeish was a […]
Khiseer Davis-Papther, 13, ‘DJ Special K’
Every evening after attending Harding Middle School, Khiseer Davis-Papther would head straight for his computer to practice his DJ skills. “Once he would get on that computer, you wouldn’t hear nothing from him,” Cytiria Horton, Khiseer’s stepmother, said. Khiseer aspired to be a DJ when he grew up. He would spend all of his free […]
Tyshiem Chainey, 17: ‘Don’t you know the coyotes are out here after us!’
At 17 years old, Tyshiem Chainey’s life was split between Philadelphia and North Carolina. “I tried to create a new culture in his life,” Alice Chainey, Tyshiem’s grandmother, said. He would spend most of his summer and some of the winter with her in North Carolina, then the rest of the year in Philadelphia with […]
Edgar ‘Chimmy’ Morales, 17, 11th-grader and aspiring plumber
For most teenagers, the last place they want to be is at home with their mother — but that was never the case for Edgar Morales, best known by his nickname “Chimmy.” Throughout his life, his mom’s house served as the hangout spot for Chimmy and his friends. Because his mother was a block captain, […]
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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.