The word peace is painted on the wall at the corner of Newkirk & Susquehanna Streets in North Philadelphia. Apparently that word didn't mean anything to whoever shot and killed 17-year-old Dwayne Canty on the empty lot just a few doors from his home.
“Philadelphia streets have really gotten horrific so I can’t say whether it was random or not. Kids can smile in your face up here and shoot you the next day and not really care," said Dwayne’s mother Nikisha Ramsey.
His mother stood a lonely vigil in her doorway Wednesday night, not a half-a-block from where her son died. She says he had just left the house on his way to the nearby KFC to pick-up dinner for the family.
“He left out the house and three minutes after…I heard gunshots. And at that point I had a bad feeling in my stomach, I knew it had to been him,” Ramsey said.
"It's a senseless killing, it's a cold-blooded killing. Here you have a 17-year-old male, never had any problems with police when two of these cold-blooded killers come up to him, rob him and shoot him several times,” said police Capt. James Clark.
Police figure he was robbed of a $120 or so. He had just cashed his paycheck. He was working and going to school to get his GED with the intention of joining the Navy.
"He was very motivated. He was not a normal Philadelphia kid who hangs on the street, don’t want to do what their mom says to,” the teen’s mom said.
Homicide detectives are working the streets here and police are appealing for anyone who knows anything to call. So is Dwayne's mom:
"And I hope the person that did it, they find some peace because they’re gonna always suffer because they took somebody really, really sweet."
