Family and friends want justice for a teen boy who was shot and killed during an out of control party in Philadelphia over the weekend.
“I just hope justice comes,” said Tyrone Beatty while in tears. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him. He was innocent.”
Jameer Haynesworth, 16, was hanging out with a few friends near his home on Saturday near 8th Street and Berks Avenue. A large crowd of around 300 people had gathered for a barbecue in an empty lot nearby. Police were called to the scene after someone reported that the crowd was growing out of control.
As the officers dispersed the crowd, an unidentified gunman opened fire near the intersection of 7th Street and Montgomery Avenue. Moments later, police officers found Haynesworth lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. He was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m. A 20-year-old man was also struck in the back. He is currently in critical condition.
With no arrests made days later, Jameer’s loved ones gathered on Monday to remember the rising high school junior.
“I’m hurting,” said Jameer’s mother, Monica Haynesworth. “I keep thinking about what I could’ve done.”
Jameer’s friend Samir Seymour told NBC10 that while they weren’t related by blood, they were still family.
“I’ve been with him for 11 years and we did everything together,” Seymour said. “Every single day I was with him. He was a brother to me. He wasn’t a best friend, he was a brother.”
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If you have any information on the shooting, please call Philadelphia Police.
