PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pink, black and white balloons filled the night sky over North Philadelphia near Temple University Friday as hundreds gathered to honor the life of 13-year-old Alaysia Smith.
Smith was found shot in the chest inside a North Philadelphia house on Wednesday. She was a student at Wissahickon Charter School-Fernhill campus.
At 13, Roscoe Bruce III said his granddaughter was just beginning to see the perks of adolescence.
“She was just starting to get curious, being 13, getting her hair done, nails done, she just started that this summer,” Bruce said. “I never had no trouble out of her, other than trying to get her to just slow down from the desire of just wanting to be a big kid.”
Beyond the fashion and makeup aesthetic, she was also a cheerleader with a passion for the sport.
“Cheerleading meant everything to her. She took a lot of trips, her and her mom, going to different places with her team,” Bruce remembered.
It’s why members of that team, the Black-Ops Cheer Squad with the North Philly Blackhawks, were some of the first to honor her after her passing.
“This was her heart," Bruce said, "so I thank the team for allowing us to celebrate her at this moment.”
Police are still investigating the shooting. Authorities say a group of men fled the house not long after the incident.
Smith is the youngest person to lose their life to gun violence in Philadelphia this year.