Terrell Arnold Jr. had an unquenchable desire to become an entrepreneur.
Not long after graduating Penn Wood High School in 2012, Terrell developed a clothing line, selling T-shirts and hoodie sweatshirts in and around his West Philadelphia neighborhood.
A trip to Atlanta added to Terrell’s aspirations of owning a business.
While in Georgia with friends, Terrell noticed the use of electric scooters that people could rent to navigate traffic more easily.
“He thought he could bring that home to Philadelphia and make a business out of that,” Deemika Brown, Terrell’s mother, fondly recalled.
“He aspired to be an entrepreneur and he felt as though he hit on something.”
Those entrepreneurial dreams were shattered when Terrell was shot and killed not far from his West Philadelphia home on Sept. 29, 2020.
He was 26 years old. Philadelphia Police have not made any arrests.
“So, the last actual dream that he told me about was that he really, desperately wanted to do this, the electric scooters,” Deemika said. “He wanted to bring that concept home, and he really believed that it would work here in Philly.”
“Business was always on his mind. Being an entrepreneur – that was his dream in life. He just didn’t have the finances to accomplish what he wanted to do, but he was determined.”
Born on Dec. 29, 1994 and raised in West Philadelphia, Terrell fathered three children, ages 6, 4, and 3.
He also left behind five younger siblings; Terrell was the oldest.
Deemika waxed proudly about her son’s playfulness and never-ending energy.
Terrell never ceased trying to extract a chuckle from others, even if they were down or upset, she remembered.
“He joked all of the time. The life of the party, for certain,” she said.
“Even when you were not in the mood to joke, Terrell would mess with you no matter what. That was the kind of young man my son was. He wanted you to laugh, and he wanted you to do funny things, and enjoy life.”
Deemika also spoke of her son’s love of the popular PS4 video game, “Call of Duty.”
“He was always playing that game,” she said.
However, she said, his fondness for gaming was easily overshadowed by his love and devotion to his three children.
“His true love was his children. He was always coming up with something that they would enjoy and have fun doing every moment he had with them,” Deemika remarked.
“Those children were his life, and he was happy as long as he could spend time with them.”
Deemika added that she will always remember her son as “being hard-headed, but fun, and the life of the party.”
“Oh man,” she exclaimed. “You can pick any story about Terrell, and it would leave you laughing. He would like to be remembered by his common goal: always to make sure that his children, his mother, and his siblings are taken care of. He always wanted to take care of his family.”
Terrell was laid to rest at the Friends Southwestern Burial Ground in Upper Darby.
A reward of up to $20,000 is available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for Terell’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
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