Philadelphia experienced a tragic surge in gun violence in 2020, with 499 of our fellow residents killed and another 2,200 shot.
In February of last year, The Philadelphia Citizen started trying to understand the causes, effects and fixes for gun violence in Philadelphia and around the country. We spent the year reporting on the issue, while both Covid-19 and shootings devastated neighborhoods around the city.
The resulting seven-episode podcast is part of that reporting. In it we tell the stories of Philadelphians intimately affected by the city’s gun violence, those working to end it, those who have found solutions here and elsewhere—and those who have failed to step up to this moment when we most need them.
In this first episode, Philly Under Fire explores the work of the Philadelphia Obituary Project, a nonprofit that seeks to memorialize the lives of Philadelphians killed by gun violence. “We treat homicide victims as individuals rather than statistics. We write about their childhood. We write about what their goals were, what their dreams were, their favorite foods, what they enjoy doing with their kids,” says Jennifer Lawson, Philadelphia Obituary Project executive director.
We also hear from Kimberly Kamara, an activist, mother and children’s book author who published a book called Where’s My Daddy? to explain her son’s death by gun violence to the little boy he left behind. “I don’t want another generation hurt. I don’t want another generation damaged. I want our children’s children to flourish. I want them to have a great childhood so they can grow up and become contributing members of society,” Kamara says.
This episode also dives into the mostly unsuccessful efforts of our city leaders, from police to district attorney to mayor’s office to take on the growing problem of gun violence in 2020—a failure that continues to this day.
Listen to the full episode here:
Ready for more? Stay up to date on all new episodes as they drop here.
Extra reading on the issues highlighted in this episode
- Host Jo Piazza talks about the making of Philly Under Fire
- On the Philadelphia Obituary Project
- Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw on her innovative crime fighting plan
- As Philly’s homicide rate rises, where is our police commissioner?
- Does police reform include better policing?
More ways to dive in and stay engaged
- The Philadelphia Obituary Project website
- Helen Ubiñas’ columns at The Philadelphia Inquirer
- More on Kimberly Kamara
- Kamara’s book Where’s My Daddy?
How you can take action
Contact city officials and tell them to invest in data-backed solutions that work to curb violence. Here are the best people to reach out to, with links to contact information.
- Mayor Jim Kenney: (215) 686-2181
- First Deputy Managing Director Vanessa Garrett Harley
- Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson
- Councilmember Cindy Bass
- District Attorney Larry Krasner
- Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw:
- Office of Violence Prevention
Now a little thank you …
Nadira Goffe is our associate producer. Special thanks to Jennifer Lawson for her help with this reporting and the work she does every day to report on the lives of gunshot victims in this city. We’ve used news clips in this episode from 6ABCs news reports on shootings and the escalating violence over the past year. No reporter in Philadelphia has done more to highlight the issues of gun violence and give voice to marginalized communities than Helen Ubiñas. Thank you to Helen for all of her reporting that laid so much of the groundwork for what we are covering here. Special thanks to Spring Point Partners for funding this project through the Jeremy Nowak Fellowship.
These are the names of the 499 Philadelphians we lost to gun violence last year, including links to their obituaries.
Thanks to The Philadelphia Inquirer for first publishing the names, based on Philadelphia Police Department info, in December.
Anthony Abel, 46 / Jhaquil Aguilar, 22 / Zaki Al-Amin, 22 / Angel Albino, 46 / Marcus Alexander, 26 / Tyron Alexander, 29 / Khalil Ali, 27 / Lonnie Allen, 51 / Ronald Alston, 39 / Ruben Alvarez, 22 / Alphonzo Anderson, 24 / Thomas Aree-Laws, 30 / Troy Arrington, 37 / Hugoman Arroyo-Alcazar, 30 / Darrell Bailey, 26 / Anthony Baker, 19 / Donnell Ball, 46 / Sadiq Barksdale, 38 / Quadri Bello, 17 / Zzahmiere Best, 18 / Shawn Best, 28 / Zaire Bey, 25 / Jahlil Blackman, 27 / Andre Blackshear, 56 / Joel Bonano-Calzada, 45 / Richard Bond, 36 / Amir Boston, 33 / Lexus Brice, 25 / Tommy Bromme, 40 / Lamont Brown, 17 / Leslie Brown, 48 / Jabril Nasee Bruce, 19 / Zaikeem Bruce, 20 / Derek Bullock, 40 / Jermaine Burch, 44 / Hysine Burden, 39 / Shakikya Burston, 23 / Delfon Cain, 29 / Jose Caliendo, 35 / Arnim Callender, 83 / Ancil Callender, 59 / Nafis Campfield, 22 / James Carrington III, 31 / Malik Carroll, 38 / Marcus Carroll, 30 / Ross Carter, 19 / Daykwan Carter, 25 / Isaiah Carter, 22 / Semaj Carter, 21 / Dante Carter, 29 / Delaney Carter, 40 / Shareef Cato, 23 / Angel Cencepcion, 28 / Tyrone Chamberlain, 27 / Isheem Chancy, 19 / Joseph Charles, 22 / Albert Chestnut, 67 / Muhammad Cisse, 18 / Devin Clark, 27 / Sadeek Clark-Harrison, 12 / Tyrone Coach, 19 / David Cobb, 51 / Shamir Collier, 19 / Dequan Collins, 22 / Elliott Colon, 40 / Erik Cook, 40 / Javon Cooper, 24 / Jess Crandall, 26 / Onix Curbelo-Robles, 45 / Aelson Da Silva, 38 / Thomas Daley, 18 / Jason Dancey, 44 / Keith Dandridge, 20 / Kenny Keng Dang-Le, 19 / David Daniels, 46 / Shaliyah Davis, 25 / Abdul Davis, 43 / Keon Davis, 34 / Antoine Davis, 27 / Jamil Davis-Hughes, 24 / Adam Delgado, 20 / Dajon Delmoral, 31 / Elisha Derry, 25 / Joshua Deshields, 41 /Aquil Devero-Braxton, 20 / Eric Devoe, 26 / Anthony Dixon, 29 / Marcus Dixon, 30 / Alisha Dixon, 32 / Elijah Dobbs-Harvey, 19 / John Doe, 25 / Kevin Donnelly, 32 / Jamal Dove, 30 / Khalil Dukes, 28 / Lorenzo Duncan, 54 / Melvin Dunn, 47 / George Dweh, 27 / Rashid Edgefield, 18 / Mark Edmunds, 33 / Shaheed Edwards, 26 / Kristian Eldridge, 27 / William Elliot, 36 / James Ellis, 29 / Sunni Ennis, 34 / Hezekian Evans, 23 / Edwin Feliciano, 46 / Darrell Felton, 50 / Perry Fields, 40 / Salim Fitchett, 25 / Quadir Flippen, 31 / Seron Flippen, 25 / Stanley Ford, 45 / Quadir Ford, 23 / Yaniyah Foster, 19 / Terrance Freeman, 29 / Tyrone Freeman-Jones, 26 / Cornelius Fuller, 42 / I-Dean Fulton, 43 / Kenneth Gaffney, 36 / Destiny Gaither, 23 / Manuel Garcia, 50 / Heyward Garrison, 16 / Balil Gay, 29 / Ramen Gilbert, 21 / Shaquan Gleaves, 25 / James Glisson, 26 / Anthony Glover, 27 / Kevin M Good, 27 / Jerry Gooden, 32 / Michael Goodman, 27 / Demertius Gore, 58 / Paul Goss, 35 / Zachary Graf, 22 / Rasoul Grant, 23 / Willie Earl Grant Jr, 23 / David Grasty, 32 / Adolphus Gray, 32 / Demetrius Green, 20 / Tracy Green, 29 / John Green, 25 / Timothy Greene, 33 / Michael Greene, 30 / Calvin Greene, 32 / Joseph K Griffin, 30 / Mark Guest, 33 / Brishaun Hall, 21 / Keon Hall, 20 / Zafir Hall, 24 / Thomas Hall, 50 / Marques Hall, 32 / Tyree Hand, 19 / Bachell Handy, 33 / Lewis Hansford, 25 / Ammron Hargrove, 29 / Ericka Harris, 48 / Tanya Harris, 54 / Takieyn Harris, 24 / Christopher Hatch, 45 / Nyfeic Hawkins, 19 / Khallid Henderson, 21 / Sir Bayton Henderson, 21 / Hasting Hightower, 54 / Tyjer Hill, 18 / Lamar Hobson, 31 / Corey Holbrook, 37 / Dejour Holland, 23 / Zamire Holloway, 18 / Rasheed Holloway, 35 / Aliek Hooks, 23 / Corey Horst, 29 / Zharif Huff-Ali, 21 / Jaleel Huggins-Cotton, 21 / Ernest Hughston, 29 / Joseph Humphrey, 20 / Tommy Hunter, 39 / Maureek Hunter, 24 / Jason Hutton, 21 / Alyssa Inostroza, 17 / Hamza Jackson, 18 / Allen Jackson, 30 / Jarell Jackson, 26 / Michael Jaje, 47 / Corey Jaynes, 30 / Omar Dante Jenkins, 22 / Tejan Jenkins, 19 / Louis Jimenez, 28 / Felix-Eduardo Jimenez-Rodriguez, 31 / Herbert Johnson, 35 / Rafi Johnson, 21 / Byron Johnson, 51 / Aamir Johnson, 18 / Calvin Johnson, 31 / David Adell Jones, 27 / Amir Jones, 25 / Zamar Jones, 7 / Brandon Jones, 26 / Shyheim Jones, 23 / Daryl Jones, 33 / Tyrone Joseph, 30 / Steven Kee, 30 / Nyeem Kitchen, 18/ Ebony Kitchen, 24 / Duran Koimene, 18 / Joseph Konneh, 21 / Tahaim Lacey, 42 / Jaheim Lamarre, 17 / Khalil Lamont Williams-Huskey, 21 / Jennifer Lavish, 28 / Albert Lee, 27 / Robert Lee, 37 / Jean Leriche, 27 / Jasmine Lewis, 20 / Travanti Lewis, 31 / Xiaoding Li, 31 / Oronde Ligon, 38 / Kenneth Littles, 23 / Sergio Lopez, 33 / Mario Love, 30 / Jayden Lucas, 18 / Wesley Lynch, 31 / Sabir Mack, 15 / Rasheed Marion, 43 / Ameen Marshall, 20 / Saeed Martin, 29 / Rymeek Martin, 21 / Israel Martinez, 34 / Juawann Mason, 27 / Waseem Mason, 15 / Jose Maximiliano Per, 55 / Vernon Mayes, 34 / Shajahan Mccaskill, 26 / Shaquira Mccottry, 27 / Kaliek McDonald, 22 / Zahquesz McFadden, 17 / Derrick Mcfarland, 24 / Daniel McNeil, 39 / Darell Mcqueen, 19 / Josalissa Melendez, 26 / Malik Milburn, 27 / Eric Miller, 41 / Kevin Mills, 25 / Melissa Moczulski, 37 / Skylar Mooney, 19 / Naziyr Moore, 37 / Amir Moore, 21 / Thomas Moore, 28 / Masai Moore, 20 / Demetrius Moore Jr., 15 / Tavon Moore-Hall, 21 / Ahmad Morales, 24 / Eduardo Morales, 35 / Joslyn Morgan, 43 / Ebony Morse, 40 / Ukhashaa Moseley, 19 / Robert Muckleston Jr, 38 / Hassan Muhammad, 40 / Anthony Mullins, 26 / Nas Mumin, 21 / Omar Murphy, 35 / Brenda Murray, 40 / Adrian Murrell, 19 / Riaheem Murrille, 30 / Will Myatt, 29 / Raheen Myers, 30 / Yusef Nash, 20 / Orlando Negron, 37 / Christian Newsome, 29 / Tam Nguyen, 54 / Collin Norris, 28 / Jaleel Norwam-Wells, 25 / James O’Connor, 46 / Brooke O’Neal, 28 / Chris Odoms, 30 / Ademola Oluhayodo, 53 / Samuel Omelchuck, 22 / Marcas Ortiz, 29 / Alberto Pagan, 61 / Keith Palumbo, 36 / Mekhi Partlow, 16 / Quadir Patterson, 20 / Rymeek Peacock, 23 / Francisco Peralta-Mezquit, 24 / Desiree Perez, 38 / Jeremy Perez, 15 / Ian Pernell, 28 / Tyrek Perrin, 32 / Quasim Perrin, 24 / Henry Peterson, 26 / Thomas Peterson, 24 / Pitts, 16 / James Pointer, 31 / Hanif Poles, 17 / Donavan Porter, 19 / Raynard Powell, 30 / Thurston Powell, 49 / Kevin Pratt, 17 / Jahmil Presley-Harris, 23 / Clyde Price, 46 / Nasir Proctor, 20 / Lamont Prophet, 30 / Richard Pryor, 46 / William Putt, 39 / Darryl Quick, 26 / Manuel Quiles, 37 / Steven Raditz, 52 / Ishan Rahman, 39 / Baby Rahman, 1 / Isaiah Rankins, 21 / Saleem Ransome, 22 / John Rawls, 59 / Melanie Raye, 40 / Tahmir Redding, 25 / Saimeen Redding, 18 / Nico-Rande Reed-Johnson, 31 / Patrick Rhett, 31/ Marvin Richardson, 37 / Phillip Robbinson, 29 / Shemar Robinson, 22 / Bobby Robinson, 55 / Tykeem Robinson, 25 / Kymir Robinson, 17 / Shyeem Robinson, 21 / Daniel Robinson, 33 / Raisheem Rochwell, 23 / Cahleel Rogers, 23 / David Rosser, 33 / David Rossillo, 33 / Andre Ruff, 28 / Haddy Sacko, 18 / Jonathan Salas-Kane, 16 / Kevin Salley, 43 / Rosangelica Sanchez, 26 / Wesley Santiago, 19 / Derrick Saunders, 22 / Jayden Scott, 21 / Dyewou N. Scruggs, 20 / Aidan Seddon, 18 / Kevin Selby, 22 / Harry Seville, 29 / Syhee Sharpe, 40 / Quadir Sheaff, 21 / Khalil Simmons, 28 / Amir Simpson, 19 / Durell Sims, 33 / Terry Singletary, 24 / Tymir Singleton, 21 / Khaleaf Sistrunk, 21 / Musa Skeete, 44 / Javon Skinner, 26 / Christian Slanger, 38 / Rasheed Sloan, 33 / Nagir Smith, 26 / Jonathan Smith, 33 / Addryss Smith, 33 / Zimal Smith, 24/ Daejour Smith, 21 / Jahlil Smith, 15 / Yaasir Smith, 20 / Frank Smith, 21 / Diyann Smith, 16 / Dahiem Smith-Myers, 19 / Kenan Snell, 37 / Marvin Soler, 28 / Maurice Sorzano, 19 / Kalil Stafford, 18 / Akiem Stafford, 29 / Sharif Stephens, 20 / Khalif Stokes, 32 / Raheem Stoner, 38 / Steven Summerville, 29 / Brent Swearingen, 39 / Tyrik Taylor, 40 / Thalyl Taylor, 17 / Allen Taylor, 34 / Shawn Taylor, 26 / Chris Thomas, 45 / Nafiece Tibby, 32 / Tahmair Timms, 14 / Dwight Tindal, 23 / Joseph Toms, 37 / Hector Toro, 20 / Yahmier Torrence, 23 / Barry Torrence, 44 / Corey Tribble, 34 / Nicholas Troxell, 41 / Quamir Tunnell, 20 / Gregory Tunstall, 34 / Frederick Tynes, 42 / Robert M Vann, 19 / Derrick Vargas, 21 / Jose Vasquez, 44 / Yordani Vega, 19 / Moises Velez, 45 / Uriel Victorio-Estrada, 29 / Omar Wade, 15 / Angelo Waler, 15 / Anthony Walker, 28 / Anthony Warren, 25 / Cecil Warren, 33 / Terrell Washington, 30 / Sean Washington, 38 / Amir Watson-Jones, 22 / Eric Weary, 36 / Edward Weary, 29 / Calvin Weathers, 24 / Santee Weddington, 20 / Brandon White, 31 / Kylef White, 24 / Quincy White, 25 / Heffero White, 31 / Kareem White, 43 / Charles White, 47 / Tashon Whitefield, 28 / Timothy Whitehead, 56 / Lisa Wichser, 53 / Wayne Wiggins, 27 / Ronald Wilford, 27 / Keith Wilkins, 33 / Amir Williams, 26 / Tahj Williams, 17 / Garry Williams, 37 / Zaire Williams, 25 / Joseph Williams, 32 / Shaylene Williams, 26 / David Williams, 18 / Kenneth Williams, 27 / Allen Williams, 31 / Kaieri Williams, 19 / Logan A Williamson, 32 / Junious Wilson, 37 / Maurice Wilson, 44 / Tyrobert Wilson, 25 / Nathaniel Wilson, 27 / Carl Wilson, 38 / Steven Wilson, 31 / Jihad Wilson, 36 / Stephon Wilson, 30 / Robert Wood, 21 / Temieka Woods, 32 / Tyshawn Woods, 22 / Jabrail Wyatt, 23 / Aimare Wyndhem, 20 / Charles Wynn, 43 / Keshone Young, 24 / Kevin Young, 30 / Marquan Zettlemoyer, 27 / Shaquann Ziegler, 23.