19-year-old girl killed; young man wounded in Germantown shooting
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - A 19-year-old girl was killed and a young man was wounded in a shooting in the city's Germantown section. Their families are pleading for answers.
"When she was 5 days old and we brought her from the hospital, she rolled over and she rolled over and she rolled over like 5 times. And I said look, she's running away from us already."
Starting life in a rush maybe even then Destiny Charles could feel that her days on this earth would be fleeting--like the flower blossoms in her grandmother Rita's garden--at 19 years old blown away by a bullet likely not meant for her.
"We love her so much and somebody just put out her lights. So hard to think she's gone," Rita said.
Police are now looking for the two men they believe took her life.
It was last Wednesday around 7:15 p.m., she was with four of her lifelong friends on one of of their front porches on the 6300 block of Cherokee Street.
Detectives released surveillance footage of a white Ford Explorer with tinted windows, model year between 2011 and 2018. Look closely at the steel wheels and spotlight on the driver's side windshield--the kind you see on some police or utility vehicles.
"Someone got out of the rear driver's side and someone got out of the front passenger side and opened fire on a group of kids on the front porch," Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit Captain John Ryan said.
Destiny was hit in her abdomen. She died 5 days later. Another boy was also struck. He remains in serious condition and may be paralyzed.
Captain Ryan says police are at a loss for a motive. Both were good kids and never in trouble with authorities.
Investigators asking you to take a good hard look at this surveillance video.
"We're still looking into the why," Captain Ryan said.
Rita says Destiny long ago decided on her own to be an organ donor. Perhaps again, that intuition she showed at just 5 days old.
"It was a wonderful thing she did. By now, somebody might be living because of her," Rita said.