A young man is dead after he was shot and killed while he was driving on I-95 in Port Richmond. Police say no arrests have been made. NBC10’s Lili Zheng spoke to the victim’s family, who are now pleading for answers.
The family of a 21-year-old man shot and killed while driving on the highway last weekend is urging anyone with information to come forward.
The victim was identified by family and police as Aiden Zeallor, who was shot while driving in the northbound lanes of I-95 near Port Richmond around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, March 29. Zeallor’s Ford Mustang and an abandoned Acura were found with several bullet holes. Police believe a third car was involved but fled the scene before authorities arrived.
According to a Pennsylvania State Police public information officer, Zeallor was an innocent bystander in the situation and was hit by errant gunfire. His death is being investigated as a homicide.
“All we know is our son was driving and now, he’s dead. That’s all we know,” his mother, Denise Donahue, told NBC 10. “Just waiting for him to open the bottom door and say, ‘Hi, mama.’ He called me mama. I’m just waiting for him to come back home, and he’s never going to come home.”
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Denise said her son was heading home that night with a friend when he was shot. His friend was treated for injuries sustained from the crash and is expected to be okay, Denise said.
“This is unexplainable. The pain is unexplainable, but for me…it’s not strength. It’s how I have to honor my boy,” she said. “He was special, and he was unique. He was meant to be here, not taken. In order to tell the story of who he is, I have to do this. I have to be strong. He wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Aiden’s dad, Tom, said since the shooting and crash on Saturday, the family has been processing it all minute by minute.
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“Not even day by day. One minute we’re crying. The next minute, we’re laughing telling stories about Aiden, how he made us laugh. Then we’re back to crying, laughing again. It’s just a roller coaster,” he said. “The Mustang that was on the news, he and I built that car. I bought that car when he was 14-years-old. We just found a picture. He would make me take him down the garage just so he could sit in it, because he wasn’t even old enough to drive.”
Tom added, Aiden helped with the family business Donahue Mechanical and worked everyday. Outside of work, he enjoyed fishing.
“Kid had a fishing rod in his hand just about everyday. These two ladies [mother and grandmother] had a bond with him. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
Denise said what made her son special was his heart for people, describing him as a friend to everyone.
“He was a helper. He was an encourager. The stories that his friends are telling me now is one that he was their rock. Every one of his friends,” she said. We instilled in him just to be a good person and a good human. Don’t do things to other people that you don’t want done to yourself. He lived by that.”
Tom explained, Aiden has a tattoo in honor of his biological father who passed away when Aiden was about five-years-old. The phrase he chose to get tattooed is now a motto for the family, Tom said.
“It was a rose being held by a skeleton’s hand that says ‘Time goes on after we’re gone’, as a tribute to his father. That phrase, his words…is what’s pushing me,” he said. “His name is Aiden. He’s not a number. He’s not a story in the newspaper. He’s our son.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.
Authorities are encouraging anyone with information to contact the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop K, Philadelphia station at 215-452-5216.
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