Aunt of slain 14-year-old: ‘I can’t believe my baby is gone’

EVERY TIME she closes her eyes, Jamellia O'Neal sees the face of her 14-year-old nephew, Nafis O'Neal - his wide, handsome smile that could light up a room, caught somewhere between boyhood and manhood.

And because of a spat among high schoolers and a 16-year-old boy who couldn't let it go without resorting to violence, that's the way Jamellia O'Neal and the rest of Nafis' family will remember the West Philadelphia High School freshman.

Nafis, a standout football and basketball player who loved to ride his bike and spend time with his little brother, was murdered after school Friday when a schoolmate allegedly plunged a knife through his young heart during an argument at 46th and Market streets, police say.

Monday night, O'Neal joined about 200 people on the sidewalk where Nafis took his last breaths to say prayers, light candles and release blue and white balloons in memory of the teen, who O'Neal said strove to emulate his father, an Ironworker, and was the middle child of five siblings in a tight-knit family.

"He always brought people together," said Jamellia O'Neal, 36, tears streaking her cheeks. "I can't believe my baby is gone."

Nafis' mother, the aunt said, left quickly after the balloons were released. Nafis' father was not there: He couldn't bear the heartbreak of standing on the block where his oldest son lost his life, she added.

"I was watching how my brother was teaching him to be a man," Jamellia O'Neal said, adding that Nafis' dad would sometimes bring Nafis and his 10-year-old brother to work with him. "He was giving him the same work ethics. [Nafis] wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps to be anything . . . He spent a lot of time with his dad, he just wanted to be wherever his dad was."

O'Neal said her nephew was excited when he started his freshman year at West Philly High in the fall.

"All I could see was he's on his way to do big things," she said, adding that he was well-loved at school.

Police sources said the investigation showed as much: Several of Nafis' schoolmates who saw his murder spoke with police, helping them to arrest his accused killer, Xaiver Beemon, 16, within hours. Beemon has been charged with murder.

"He stabbed him once in his heart," O'Neal said. "It's just so senseless."

After a prayer during the vigil, silence descended on the crowd, but for the sound of quiet sobs and the El train rumbling overhead. At 6:45, the crowd let the balloons float into the night sky in memory of Nafis - a promising life cut short too easily by violence.

As the mourners parted ways, the devastated aunt was left again with an image that will haunt her forever.

"I just can't believe it. It's like an indescribable sadness," she said. "Every time you close your eyes, you can see him."

Blog: PhillyConfidential.com