PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mourners gathered in Mount Airy Saturday morning to say their final goodbyes to 23-year-old Kada Scott, whose remains were found behind a vacant East Germantown middle school just weeks after she was reported missing.
“We are here to celebrate her. This is a celebration,” said Cicely Harrison, of North Philly, who went to school with Scott’s father. “It is a celebration of a beautiful life cut down too short — too soon. So this is definitely a celebration. This is a homegoing service for Kada.”
The funeral got underway around 10 a.m. Photos of Scott were on display in the vestibule and sanctuary of the Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ on Ogontz Avenue. Family, friends, and community members wore pink in her honor, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker delivered remarks.
“She is definitely with the Lord, and we are happy that we can all come together as a group of people, as humans, as parents, as loved ones,” Harrison said.
Scott went missing the night of Oct. 4 while she was working an overnight shift at a nursing home in Chestnut Hill.
Police believe the last person to see Scott alive is her coworker, who said Scott had just started her shift when she got a phone call. They said she seemed upset and said, “I can’t believe you’re calling about this,” before walking off to a dark-colored car in the parking lot. She never returned to work, and her phone went dead about nine minutes later. Investigators say she got inside a car with 21-year-old Keon King and was shot in the head moments later. She died instantly.
Her remains were found nearly three weeks later, behind Ada H. Lewis Middle School, where King was seen on surveillance video just 15 minutes after Scott’s disappearance from work, getting out of the stolen Hyundai Accent and walking away.
King, initially charged with kidnapping in connection with her disappearance, now faces additional charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, and gun offenses. He also faces charges of arson, conspiracy, unauthorized use of a vehicle, tampering with evidence, recklessly endangering another person, and related offenses.