Relatives gathered outside Christian Massey's Wynnefield home Monday night for a candlelight vigil to mourn his death.
"There's so much love here you can look out here and see," said Roshon Massey, Christian's cousin. "Somebody had to kill him over nothing. This is crazy."
Roshon held Christian, 21, as he lay dying in the street from a gunshot wound to the chest. A would-be robber wanted his Dr. Dre Beats headphones.
Christian was conscious when police arrived at the Overbrook scene and he told the officers about the robbery attempt, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. He died a half-hour later at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The sounds of children playing on a Philadelphia sidewalk on Lebanon Avenue Saturday afternoon didn't curb an armed man from opening fire on Christian in a nearby alley. The gunman first demanded the 'Beats' headphones. Massey did not comply and tried to run, witnesses say. The suspect shot five rounds, striking Massey. The popular headphones lay near Massey's body. He had purchased them for about $300 on Black Friday.
"To me, he was my child," said Eula Hodge, his grandmother. "Why did they have to shoot him. They didn't get what they shot him for so he was shot for nothing."
The former Marple Newtown High School football and basketball player set a goal to buy a house for his sisters. Philadelphia Police have no leads and are seeking the public's help with identifying a suspect.
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