Anguish after Chester shootings

In the aftermath of a party that left two teenagers dead and eight other teens injured by a barrage of bullets, the aunt of one of the victims shared her anguish and lamented the violence in Chester.

"Right now, we're just hoping to get all the [funeral] arrangements together," Abigail Dodson, 33, said as she spoke in a soft voice from her home Sunday, two days after her nephew, Robel Laboy, 18, and his friend David Johnson, 19, were killed by gunshots that riddled the Masonic hall where they were celebrating a birthday party.

Of the injured, two remained in the hospital Sunday in stable condition, according to a nursing supervisor at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

Over the weekend, Chester police arrested three in connection with the fatal shootings, including Carlisha Coleman, 19, the hostess of the party, who was charged with resisting arrest and risking a catastrophe; a juvenile who faces similar charges; and another juvenile charged with weapons-related offenses.

Police said the shootings occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Friday, at Minaret Temple No. 174, at West Fourth and Ward Streets.

"We're all in shock," Dodson said. "We didn't expect nothing like this to happen. I have a 14-year-old daughter and she's really suffering. I have to stay strong for her."

Dodson said she received a phonecall from someone at the party at 11:45 p.m. that something had happened to her nephew, Robel.

"I went straight to Crozer-Chester Medical Center," she said. "When we got to the hospital, it was just out of control. So many people were there, but nobody knew anything."

A candlelight vigil was held for Laboy and Johnson on Saturday at the Minaret Temple. Israel Laboy, 39, Robel's father, could not tear himself from the site all weekend, according to Dodson. "He's not doing too good," she said. "He's at the vigil site, just sitting there."

Dodson described the two victims as best friends from Chester High School, a vocational-technical school.

She said Laboy was transferred last year to the Chester YouthBuild program - an alternative education and employment-training service for at-risk youth - to get his GED, and that he had the credits to graduate this June.

"He kept having problems at Chester High School with kids from other areas," Dodson said. "The problem [kids] have in Chester is that if you're from one side of town, you can't get along with those from the other side of town. It has to do with the area you live in.

"If you're from the projects, then you just can't get along with the others."

She described Laboy as a good person with dreams amid difficult circumstances.

"He always had this nice smile," she said. "Whenever he came in a room, he would always brighten the room with his smile."

Laboy lived in the William Penn Housing Project, where Dodson said he wrote poetry.

"He kept these poems in a book. He wanted to go to school for journalism. He liked to write."

Dodson said Laboy went to visit his estranged mother in Florida a few months ago, but their relationship remained distant.

"Robel was not really in his mother's life," Dodson said. But Florida was where he eventually wanted to live.

"He wanted to start off at Delaware County Community College, and then transfer to a Florida university," she said. "He liked the Miami scenery."

She said Chester Mayor Wendell Butler "needs to think of different things for teenagers to do, so they're not on the streets.

"Because when you're out on the streets, you're just prone to do things that you're not supposed to do."