Probe continues into Phila. slaying of L.A. Lakers guard's father

Philadelphia police are continuing to investigate the Germantown shooting death of the father of a Los Angeles Lakers guard - and they believe the 57-year-old man may have been targeted. But exactly why remains unclear, Homicide Capt. James Clark said Wednesday.

Wayne Ellington of West Mount Airy was found dead in a 2001 maroon Oldsmobile about 8:05 p.m. Sunday with a single gunshot to the left side of his head. He was pronounced dead that night at Einstein Medical Center.

Clark said that the investigation into Ellington's death was progressing and that detectives hoped to make an arrest soon. He said a motive in the case was still unclear - it didn't appear Ellington had been robbed, but it did appear he was targeted, Clark said.

In the meantime, Ellington's family was still trying to grasp what happened to the father of three who loved to watch his son, Wayne Ellington Jr., play basketball.

Betty Ellington, the victim's mother, said he had spoken on the phone to his son and his wife shortly before he was killed, saying he was on his way home. "He was [his son's] No. 1 fan," she said Wednesday. "Every game we could get to, we were there."

That night, she said, detectives arrived at her house and told the family that Ellington had been shot. "We just started screaming."

She described her son, who lived with her, as an easygoing man who kept to himself and cared deeply for his three children. He worked in finance at a law center in Bensalem.

When Ellington Jr. was just 5, his father would spend hours playing basketball with him, she said.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Ellington Jr., 26, said he was devastated. He has since returned home to Philadelphia as the family made funeral arrangements, his grandmother said.

"I am so heartbroken," Betty Ellington said. "My son didn't deserve this."