Community remembers father gunned down in front of his teen daughters in Queen Village
NORTH PHILADELPHIA - A community is remembering a dad in an emotional balloon sendoff into the heavens in North Philadelphia. Family and friends gathered to remember 42-year-old Raymond Lighty, a father of five girls, gunned down in front of three of them November 1st.
"This is just a small portion of the love from the people that my brother knew, but this is just senseless. Senseless," stated sister Jacqueline Jiles. Their brother, Gerald Calhoun, went on, "He loved everybody and everybody loved him, you know? I mean, he was just all around a good person. Joyful, his jokes, everything. You know what I’m saying? We’re going to miss everything."
Police say Lighty, of Upper Darby, was killed after being shot as many as 10 times while inside a minivan with two of his teenage daughters on South 4th Street in Queen Village. A third daughter was also standing nearby. None of the girls was hurt, physically. Emotionally is an entirely different matter.
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"They’re not good at all. It’s tragic. I mean trauma. To do something like that and to see something like that," Calhoun described his nieces.
"I loved him. He was a sweet guy. You know, he didn’t bother nobody. He loved his family. He loved his father. He was just an all-around guy and we’re going to miss him," Lighty’s aunt, Anita Parker, lamented.
Family members remember Raymond as a hard worker who always put family first. Now they are looking after his girls, while police look after the case, wanting any information that can lead to the shooter.
"Whatever the city can do, if you know who did it, call the police," Jiles added.
"My faith is so strong. I know that the guy is going to get caught or whatever and we’re going to be alright," another aunt of Lighty, Juanita Sprowal, commented.
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