Quaseem Jefferson was on the right path.
Fresh off his first few weeks with a new job with the city of Philadelphia, the 22-year-old was enjoying the fruits of his labor with his first paycheck. Then days later, on Oct. 1, 2016, Quadi was gunned down in the street in East Germantown.
His next door neighbor, Gertrude Steptoe, said she’d known him since he was a baby. She had even babysat for Quadi’s father when he was a boy.
The man Quadi turned into was helpful, kind and friendly, always offering to help when she came to the door with groceries or packages.
“He was such a nice young man,” Gertrude said. “He was always polite when he spoke to me. Nobody could say anything bad about him.”
The family is devastated, naturally, and she still sees Quadi’s father, but his mother doesn’t go out much anymore.
“To see your child lying in the street with a gunshot to the head, that will keep you inside.” Gertrude said.
Services were held at a nearby mosque in October.
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