Philadelphia police have charged two men with the murder of a 14-year-old boy who was shot 18 times while waiting for a bus to take him home from school Monday afternoon.
Samir Jefferson, a freshman at Thomas A. Edison High School, was waiting for the bus around 3:30 p.m. in a North Philadelphia neighborhood when two unknown gunmen exited a car and chased him before firing at least 36 shots.
Jefferson was shot 18 times throughout his body and died at a local hospital a short time later, police said.
“Every time I close my eyes, I see my son,” the teen’s mother, Desiree Goodson said. “That’s my son, I birthed him. He wanted to be somebody. He wanted to be known.”
The exterior wall of a nearby Rite Aid was riddled with bullet holes, all marked for evidence, from the hail of bullets, the station reported.
On Wednesday, police announced the arrest of Quadir Johnson, 26, and 21-year-old Kyair Garnett in connection to the murder of Jefferson. Both men were charged with murder, conspiracy, violation of the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and other related offenses.
Garnett was also charged with receipt of stolen property and unauthorized use of an automobile, the station reported.
The incident report said no motive for the shooting was known as of early Tuesday.
Jefferson’s family told the station that he apparently sent someone a video showing a fight over Instagram just 15 minutes before he was gunned down. Police said investigators were looking into whether the video was a factor in the shooting as social media often drives violence in the city.
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