Terrell White was well into his 30s when he and his friends headed to Snake Hill near Cobbs Creek after a snowfall, grabbed pieces of cardboard and went sailing down the slope like a pack of schoolboys.
Terrell was a big man, and the ride was not exactly graceful. His mother, Terrilynn Veracruz, still laughs at the memory of his large frame rolling through the snow as his friends captured the adventure on video.
“They had good old fun like we used to do,” she said. “He was a big kid.”
Terrell was grown enough to drive an 18-wheeler through winter weather, but young at heart when there was fun to be had. He loved football, traveling, playing cards and making people laugh. He was also the person family and friends could count on at any hour, whether they needed help with a car, a ride or simply someone who would show up.
“He loved people. He loved to make you laugh,” Terrilynn said. “If you needed anything, no matter what time of night or day, he’d be there.”
Terrell was 37 when he was killed on March 4, 2023, in a barrage of gunfire on the 6000 block of Sansom Street in West Philadelphia. Marquan Fox, 24, was also killed. No arrests have been reported.
Terrell was the oldest of Terrilynn’s “My Three Sons,” followed by Marquise and Malcolm. From an early age, he took his position seriously. He watched over his brothers and often behaved like the man of the house.
“Terrell was more so the giant bear, the Papa Bear,” his mother said. “He made sure his little brothers were taken care of.”
That instinct emerged while Terrell was still a child himself. During a difficult period in Terrilynn’s life, Terrell was still in grade school when he would get up, prepare a bottle for one of his little brothers, dress himself and cross the street to school for breakfast. He and his mother weathered those years together, developing a bond that was part mother and son, part protector and protected, and part best friends.
“Your firstborn is the one that grows up with you,” Terrilynn said. “He was my best friend.”
The boys were not allowed to turn the house into a wrestling ring. Terrilynn insisted that brothers could disagree without fighting. As they grew older, each developed his own relationship with the others, although Terrell remained the big brother who could offer the benefit of experience.
He extended that love to Shelita Bland, a niece Terrilynn raised and whom Terrell regarded as his first sister and best friend. He was close to his aunt, April Mitchell, too. Once, while working on the road, he surprised April by maneuvering his enormous truck into her Utah apartment complex.
She was amazed he had made it all the way there, but he told her: “You’re my aunt. I’ll make it anywhere for you.”
Terrell loved children, although he had none biologically. He embraced the son of his girlfriend before he died. Jermaine became part of the family as an infant, and Terrilynn came to consider him her grandson.
As a young student, Terrell attended McMichael and Bok schools. Traditional classrooms did not always hold his attention. At one school, he was more interested in walking the halls with the nonteaching assistants than sitting in class—unless it was time for his favorite math teacher.
Job Corps ended up being a better match. Though leaving him there broke his mother’s heart, Terrell returned home more mature and with a trade certification. He later earned his commercial driver’s license and found work he truly enjoyed.
He hauled loads for companies including Perdue and Pepsi, commanding 18-wheelers on long-distance routes. He trained in the winter, learning the precision needed to keep a tractor-trailer under control on slick roads and in high winds. Later, he helped friends earn their CDLs, passing along lessons he had learned the hard way.
During time away at training, Terrell endured a bedbug-infested room that left him covered in bites. He wanted to come home but stayed until the program was finished.
“He came back so bit up, but he did it,” Terrilynn said. “He was good at what he did.”
When he was not trucking, Terrell helped at a friend’s auto-body and towing shop. Emergency calls sometimes sent him to the roadside late at night to change a tire, bring someone gas or get a stranded car moving again. Those calls worried his mother, but helping people was woven into his nature.
Terrell also knew how to relax. He enjoyed trips to the racetrack and had begun traveling farther after getting his passport, visiting Mexico and Puerto Rico. He loved family getaways, especially a birthday trip with relatives and friends that Terrilynn remembers as one of his best.
At the card table, he played spades, tonk or nearly anything else, and cheating was not tolerated. Terrell watched every card and kept careful track of the board, even while everyone talked trash around him.
On the morning of March 4, Terrell handed his mother his card so she could shop for one of his favorite meals, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas. Later, he texted asking her to bring him cigarettes, but she did not see the message until she had reached home. Terrell, still in his slippers, said he would run out for them himself.
That evening, he was sitting in his mother’s car and talking with younger relatives and friends when gunfire erupted. Even after someone in the back seat was hit, witnesses told Terrilynn, Terrell tried to drive everyone to safety and get them to a hospital.
It was the final act of a man who had spent his life looking after other people.
For Terrilynn, memories of Terrell can bring tears and laughter in the same breath. But she is grateful to have so many stories about the little boy who cared for his brothers and the grown man tumbling down Snake Hill on cardboard.
Her hope is that his life encourages other families to hold their sons close.
“Love on your boys,” she said, “no matter what.”
Anyone with information about Terrell White’s killing is asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-TIPS (8477). Tips may be submitted anonymously. A $20,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
