The above image, John Heggie, was created by artist Celeste Schor as part of the 2020-2021 Souls Shot Portrait Project exhibition.
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When John Heggie III went with Teresa Prescott to a Senegalese restaurant in West Philadelphia, he had no idea what he was in for.
It was his first time eating African cuisine, so he let Teresa order for him: red snapper and rice.
“Our food comes out on this big old plate and and it’s this big fish with the head still attached,” Teresa said. “His facial expression said, ‘What in the world have you done?’”
“I’m going to town with my fish and rice and it’s seasoned to the gods and it’s so good,” she said. “Heggie is just staring at the fish like, ‘How do you eat this thing?’ So I just told him, ‘There’s no cute way to eat it, you basically just dig in.’”
From then on, he was hooked, and he even introduced other people to the food. It’s one of Teresa’s favorite stories of John and it never fails to make her smile.
It’s happy memories like this that John’s loved ones are keeping close. On Jan. 18, 2019, John was shot and killed at North Broad Street at Glenwood Avenue as he left his friend Khalil Brown’s Janazah service. Khalil was killed Jan. 12 in Strawberry Mansion.
No arrests have been made in connection with John’s homicide.
“John was a good friend and a loving and kind person,” John’s mother Sharon King said. “I was amazed at so many compliments people made about him. He was a beautiful person, he believed in God, he cared about his friends. Everybody loved him.”
John was born to Sharon and John Heggie Jr. on Oct. 19, 1988 and raised in North Philadelphia. John was Sharon’s first child; she also has two daughters.
John had served time in the past and he was taking steps to establish himself. At the time of his death, he was working two jobs: selling energy plans door-to-door and cleaning at the University of Pennsylvania at night.
Joel Jones, a close family friend who considered John to be a nephew, took joy in his relationship with John, and he was happy to see him doing things differently.
“He had changed his life. He was going in the right direction, he really was,” Joel said. “He was doing what he had to do, and he was really optimistic about his new job. He was making good money and working as many hours as he could and trying to stay busy.”
Joel continued: “He was a good kid. He was outgoing, he was talkative, he was expressive. If he thought it, he said it. It was interesting watching his development, watching the transition from being a child to a teenager to a man.”
“I always enjoyed the conversations I have with my nephews,” he said. “They teach you as much as you teach them, and I’m just thankful for having had him in my life.”
Teresa recalls meeting John when they were teenagers back in 2004 or 2005. She was coming out of a corner store in North Philly and John was standing outside with his friends.
John complimented Teresa on her eyes and they ended up exchanging phone numbers. Although they were romantically involved off and on, the real basis of their relationship was always a strong friendship.
When asked what made John special, Teresa replied, “OMG, I mean this from the depths of my soul. He had so much to offer, not just to me but the world. I’m not in the business of hyping anyone up that doesn’t deserve the glory, but he had an almost angelic spirit. He was truly concerned about the people he loved.”
Teresa, who now lives in Virginia, did not meet John’s family when he was alive, but after he passed, she decided to forge a relationship with Sharon. They now have a close bond and communicate nearly every day.
“I reflected on the type of person he was, and it made me want to know who his parents were,” she said. “I thought that they have to have a similar spirit. His spirit was so, so bright, and he spoke so highly of his mother. He loved that woman.”
For what would have been John’s 31st birthday on Oct. 19, Teresa said she wants to order an African platter in his honor.
“I’m going to get this fish and I’m going to eat it as if we were eating it together,” she said.
John is laid to rest at Mount Peace Cemetery, sharing a plot with his grandmother.
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 John’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
