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Josh Kruger: Friends gather to honor, remember an advocate for the vulnerable

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Published  October 5, 2023 10:31pm EDT
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Friends gather to honor, remember Josh Kruger

Three days after he was fatally shot, friends say the loss of Josh Kruger is immeasurable. Those who knew and loved him are vowing to carry on his legacy, as he was remembered in a vigil.

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - Three days after he was fatally shot, friends say the loss of Josh Kruger is immeasurable. He advocated for some of the city’s most vulnerable and those who knew and loved him are vowing to carry on his legacy, as he was remembered Thursday evening.

The vigil for the murdered journalist began with the song "Over the Rainbow." Friend Zev Kramer, who organized the tribute, says it perfectly represents what the 39-year-old stood for, including being a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

"I don’t think any of us will quite know how much we miss him until we’ve fully processed what has happened," Kramer remarked.

Police say Kruger was murdered in his home on the 2300 block of Watkins Street in Point Breeze, early Monday morning. He’d been shot seven times in the chest. Police have named a person of interest, but, so far, no arrests.

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"Very mind-numbing that someone could do this to him, but I want to focus on the beauty that he brought to this earth," friend Kendall Stephens said.

He brought a lot of beauty. Stephens says Kruger was a lifesaver after she was the victim of a hate crime back in 2020. "The courage he gave me, as a social worker, as a Black trans woman, as a Black Philadelphian living under the poverty level, with all these identifiable risks. He reminded me every day that I mattered."

Kruger battled many of the causes he championed, from addiction, to homelessness to living with HIV, and he wrote about them. His friends say he was a brilliant person, a prolific writer and extremely passionate.

"What he leaves behind is a legacy of wanting and doing and being more," friend Prentice Bush, said. "He didn’t come from much, so everything he built, he built himself."

Kramer says the two had a tight friendship that goes back to when Zev first came out as a gay man. "You need a best friend. You know coming out is a very scary thing in the 21st century. Joshua knew that."

"I love you. I miss you. I respect you," Bush added.