Slain young dad was 'full of life'

BY ALL ACCOUNTS, John Hightower was outgoing, fun and generous, a man with a good head on his shoulders and an even better sense of humor.

And though the 24-year-old struggled recently in his efforts to care for his ailing mother and his daughter, Hightower had big dreams, writing raps about making it out of poverty someday.

"He always said, 'I'm gonna be big and I'm gonna buy you all cribs,' " recalled his best friend, Mike Bules, 24. "He never sold drugs, never stood out here on the corner. He was so full of life."

Hightower's life came to a violent end Saturday night, when a man shot him in the face with a sawed-off shotgun during a robbery on the West Philadelphia block where Hightower grew up.

About 11 p.m., the gunman and an accomplice headed up Redfield Street toward Master, where Hightower sat with four friends and a 9-year-old boy, talking and relaxing as a block party came to an end.

The gunman came upon the group and pointed the shotgun at them, demanding that they empty their pockets, recalled Rosa Vasquez, 28, who was sitting with Hightower at the time.

But the $15 Hightower handed over, plus a pack of Newports and a cell phone from others, weren't enough. The gunman pointed the shotgun at Hightower's head and fired, killing him instantly, police said.

"The whole time, John had his hands up," Vasquez said. "And the guy pointed the gun point-blank and pulled the trigger."

Renedya Stokes, 25, who was also with Hightower at the time of the shooting, recalled hearing the accomplice yell, "He's reaching," but said that Hightower's hands were above his head and his pockets were turned inside out.

"But the [gunman] had already checked John's pockets," Stokes said.

Upon hearing the shot, Dell Smith, 30, a friend whom Hightower had visited 10 minutes before the shooting, ran to his front door, thinking kids were setting off firecrackers.

"Next thing you know, I get to the door and he's on the ground," Smith said. "I came down and stood over top of him. That was my boy, that was my man."

Hightower was never involved with drugs or fighting, friends and family said.

They described the young father as a laid-back man who just wanted to joke around, make honest money and help anyone in need.

And though friends and relatives agreed that Hightower had fallen on hard times - he was between jobs, trying to take care of his ailing mother in a nursing home and his daughter - all agreed that Hightower had never turned to the streets to make money.

"He didn't have no money," said Smith, shaking his head at reports that $85 had been stolen from his friend in the incident. "If I had a daughter, I'd be out dealing. But not him."

Steve Smith grew up with Hightower, who lived with him and his wife in Frankford near Fillmore and Tackawanna streets, and recalled rapping with him.

"He had a good sense of humor; he was an impeccable lyricist," Smith said. "We had memorable times on an everyday basis."

"Everybody [who] came across him fell in love with him," High-tower's older sister, Ebony High-tower, said through sobs. "I can't believe someone would just go and take his life like that. He was just sitting there minding his business. That's not fair. They took him away from me."

Homicide detectives said they did not have a complete description of the killers, and witnesses said they didn't know the men.

Yesterday afternoon, a memorial of candles, flowers, signs and stuffed animals were left over from a vigil for Hightower Sunday night. Neighborhood friends from nearby blocks stopped to pay their respects - one man who declined to give his name poured Patrón tequila onto the ground by the memorial.

"He was outgoing, fun and laid- back," the man said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's crazy. Let him drink."

Staci Ross, 25, of Logan, is the mother of Hightower's year-old daughter, Tristyn, and dated him for nine months from November 2007 to late last summer.

"He loved to make people laugh. He was genuine about what he said and what he did for people," recalled Ross, who met Hightower when the couple worked at an Arby's in King of Prussia.

Ross said that Hightower had a tough time after his stepfather's death in 2007 and after losing his job at Arby's when the restaurant closed, but the experiences made him stronger.

"[It] made him more willing to do what was necessary to survive," she said, adding that the pair's shared love of music was what brought them close.

"That was his dream, to be able to become a star and make it big and be able to provide for his family," she said.

Ross said Hightower was an attentive father who did what he could to provide for her and Tristyn.

"The love was still there," she said of their relationship. "I don't wanna believe that he won't be here to share any more firsts with Tristyn."

"That's the hardest thing, that he won't be able to share those moments with us."