Wife of slain shop owner dies of gunshot wound

Bintou Soumare and her husband, Amissi Ndikumasabo, worked side by side in their clothing store in the Feltonville section of North Philadelphia, putting in 13-hour days for three years until their immigrant dream was shattered by gunfire July 15.

Ndikumasabo, 41, did not survive, but Soumare clung to life at Temple University Hospital with friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic praying for her recovery.

On Sunday, a day after Ndikumasabo was buried in the couple's native Mali, Soumare, 45, who had been shot in the head, lost her own fight, police said yesterday.

Now members of their mosque are trying to raise money - as they did for Ndikumasabo - to return Soumare's body to West Africa so she and her husband can be side by side again, in the village where they met.

Police, in the meantime, pressed a hunt for a second suspect in the the fatal shootings while a man already in custody, Thomas Foggy, 19, faces a second murder charge stemming from the gunpoint robbery of the couple's Urban Wear clothing store at Wyoming Avenue and Mascher Streets.

Like many immigrant stories, the couple's began with Ndikumasabo coming alone to these shores about 15 years ago, those who knew them say.

He started with a T-shirt stand on Front Street in Kensington. Five years later, he was joined by Soumare, who left behind sons, now ages 21 and 17.

About three years ago, the couple opened Urban Wear.

"They were there at the store more than they were at their own house," said friend Aboubacar Toure. "They would get there at 9 a.m. and stay until 10 p.m."

Ndikumasabo began his day much earlier than that, arriving in time for 4:30 a.m. prayers at the Masjid Tawbah mosque in the Frankford section, said Toure.

While Ndikumasabo would visit Mali from time to time, Soumare never returned. Like many immigrants, they sent money home and were trying to save enough to bring their sons here.

They had about $3,000 in the bank when their dream ended, said Toure.

Nicha Coulilay, a cousin, said the double slaying was big news in Mali and had sent a shock wave through the immigrant community here.

"Everybody is worried there, and I'm worried here," she said, adding her 8-year-old son "asked his father not to go back to work."

Toure said there had been some hope that Soumare would recover enough to go into a nursing home and have her oldest son be with her. But her condition never improved.

"She had been getting worse and worse," he said. "Her heart was failing. Her lungs were failing, her kidneys also. We knew it was coming because everything was getting worse and worse."

Toure said that since their numbers in Philadelphia are small, Malians treat each other like family, with the mosque their common home.

"There is no father, there is no mother; the masjid is the father or mother," Toure said.

Today will mark the start of four days of mourning for Soumare at Masjid Tawbah. Donations can be mailed or dropped off in person at the mosque, 5128 Duffield St., Philadelphia 19124.