Philadelphia violence: Dad of son killed in unsolved homicide cries out for justice: 'He should be home'
SPRING GARDEN - It has been nine months since 15-year-old honor student Devin Weedon was killed in a robbery on his way to school. The four suspects were caught on camera fleeing the scene. They have still not been identified or arrested. Philadelphia police are putting out a new push for tips to solve this murder, one of hundreds this year.
For the fourth consecutive year, Philadelphia has reached 400 homicides. There were over 500 at this time in 2022.
The 20 percent reduction is not a reason for optimism when your child is one of those killed this year and the killers are still free.
"Christmas is not happy. Thanksgiving is not happy. Period. There is no good time and nothing is ever going to be the same," Gary Weedon stated.
Happy holidays are no more for Gary Weedon and his family, especially in this first year without Devin.
Student, 15, gunned down and killed on way to Simon Gratz High School in Nicetown, police say
A 15-year-old student of Simon Gratz High School is dead after police say he was killed in a fight turned shooting near the school Monday morning.
Seen on surveillance shot and killed while walking to Gratz High School, just a few blocks from the school on Hunting Park Avenue. Four males approached him from behind attempting to rob him. Devin, trained to box, hit them one by one, until the last one he knocked down pulled a gun and shot Devin.
He died just a few minutes after arriving at the hospital.
One of the 400 homicides in Philadelphia in 2023 and one of many unsolved, despite a $30,000 reward for tips, posted since the March 28th murder.
Devin was a star on the football field and in the classroom.
"That’s him. Number 10. My son," Weedon stated. "He was on the honor roll. Every school year, he was on the honor roll. Man, he never got in trouble. You notice everybody killed is kids on honor roll, doing stuff for the school, doing stuff for the community."
And, so as everyone visits family for Christmas, Weedon’s visit this week will be to a cemetery. "I’m going up tomorrow to see my son for Christmas in a damn grave. He should be home with his mom and I should be doing everything for him. He should be playing with everybody. We can’t do that. Why? You wanna know why? Guns! We got to get the guns off the streets. Get these dudes off the street before they do this to somebody else’s family."