PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The gun violence crisis continues in Philadelphia, as the number of lives lost to homicide rises to more than 412, and even more families affected.
Neighbors on Friday mourned the loss of a 53-year-old Southwest Philadelphia man who was killed in crossfire amid Thursday night's relentless gun violence.
They brought candles, balloons and teddy bears to a porch on Walton Avenue near 56th Street, at the home of Todd Reeves, to honor his life and pray for an end to the violence.
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"He was a fixture in the community. He was super nerdy," said Meagan, a neighbor. "Just the sweetest guy. The community raised $30,000 for him to save this house just last year."
Everyone said they just want him to be remembered for the good person he was.
"He always came home, came from his job, went in the house, watched everybody on the block," one man said. "He was a God-fearing man. He was chilling. He wasn’t into [trouble]."
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Residents describe their neighborhood as family-oriented and hard working.
"A lot of the kids don't even live in this neighborhood. I don't know where they're coming from," Frances, a neighbor, said.
"That's not people who live on this block," Nicole added. "People who are playing cops and robbers just happen to run down our block."
Two homicides happened during daylight hours Friday.
A man was shot in the head and killed at 11:25 a.m. Friday inside an office plaza in the Logan neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Another man died after being shot in his head, stomach and rear end at about 3:30 p.m. near the intersection of 74th Street and Island Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia.
KYW Staff contributed to this report.
