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Gunned
down: 19-year old Layee
Bility |
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Philadelphia -
even years ago, 19-year old
Yousof Layee Bility migrated to
the United States from Liberia
to seek greener pastures, but
his quest to live the American
dream was short-lived Monday
morning when unknown gunmen shot
him multiple times, thus ending
his life.
Details are sketchy, but FPA has
been informed by sources that
another person who was not with
the deceased but got caught up
at the wrong place at the time
was also shot and is in critical
condition at a local
hospital. The assailant(s)
escaped the scene before
Philadelphia police and medics
arrived on 67th and Elmwood
Avenue in Southwest
Philadelphia.
Sources told FPA that Yousof
Bility, alias Layee was
pronounced dead while in route
to the University of
Pennsylvania Hospital. He died
of bullet wounds in his chest,
police investigating the fatal
incident informed family
members.
Family sources alluding to some
eyewtinesses told FPA that Layee,
as he was popularly called by
his friends and relatives was
fatally shot as soon as he
walked out of a local Chinese
food store where he had gone to
buy his late night dinner.
“Somebody just walked up to him
and gunned him down in cold
blood,” screamed a friend of the
deceased.
Family, friends and other
relatives thronged the deceased
residence on 68th and Guyer
Street Monday afternoon when
they heard about his tragic
demise. They were bawling, some
falling in the street in
complete shock and dismay. “Oh
Lord, Layee…” cried one of his
friends. Some people in the
audience were still seeking
answers as to why Layee, whom
they say has been a nice and
respectable young man in the
Liberian community.
'Working as a mechanic'
A family source who does not
want to be name in this story
confided in FPA that prior to
his demise Monday, the deceased
had been involved in gang
related activities through which
he allegedly created some
enemies. However, according to
the source, the deceased "left
that behavior long since and he
was now doing well for
himself."
She said Layee decided to leave
the street and became a
productive and hardworking young
man in the community. “He was
working as a mechanic, earning
his money the right way, but
someone just hunted him down
like this. Oh Lord…”
The deceased's living pictures
were being circulated among
sympathisers as the sobbing
continued endlessly Monday.
“This is a tragic moment in our
community,” wailed a mother, who
said she is a relative of the
deceased. Layee, very popular
among his peers recently
graduated from the Batram High
school in southwest
Philadelphia. "He was a good boy
to just died like this," cried a
sympathiser.
Some of Layee’s friends
talked to would not point
fingers at anyone suspected of
killing their colleague.
However, sources at the
residence explained that the
deceased was in some kind of
dispute with some associates on
tire rims issue, which Layee
installed on his car. “Maybe
some one was jealous and not
satisfy and they decided to ruin
my friend life this way.”
No one is sure whether the
shooting was gang related, but
police are investigating the
incident. They are also trying
to determine what sparked the
early-morning shooting that took
the life of the
Liberian. Sources said it
appeared as though someone or
group of guys were upset about
the rims issue or something
different that was going on
between them and the deceased.
“Perhaps they got into argument
and decided to shoot him. I
don’t really know what happened
that night, but Police are
investigating the incident,”
said Mohammed Bility, one of
Layee’s senior brothers.
Mohammed told FPA that one
suspect has already been
arrested by police and is
helping with the investigation.
He laments his brother’s loss,
adding, “It’s the will of Allah
(God).” In an announcement
released Wednesday, the Bility
family regrets the death of
Layee. According to them, the
sad event occurred on Monday
June 29, 2007 in Philadelphia.
The family also acknowledged
that Layee was gunned down by
unknown persons.
The deceased is survived by his
mother, Mamasa Dolleh in Guinea,
his brothers including Abu,
Mohammed, Ansu and Daba Bility
in Philadelphia, and sisters
including Muse Kromah. The
funeral service will take place
at African Islamic Community
Center (Masjid) at 63rd Street
and Gray Avenue in Philadelphia
on Friday, June 29, 2007 at
1:00PM. He would be buried
following the service.
Gun related violence
rises in Philadelphia
The city of brotherly love
continues to grapple with a rise
in homicide cases. Homicides
reported by city police
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The late
Layee in a classroom at
Batram |
through Monday have totaled 198.
Philadelphia, which is the
U.S.'s fifth largest city, is
heading toward its bloodiest
year since 1997 and police are
blaming a rise in the use of
guns to settle minor disputes.
Police said most involved in
these homicide cases are black
men between the ages of 18 and
25. The increase comes at the
time when the number of killings
is falling in larger cities
including New York, Los Angeles
and Chicago, according to
reports.
Some people in the Liberian
community say having the cops on
every single corner would help
to curtail the increase in gun
related violence, while others
argued that it would not matter.
Police have flooded parts of
Philadelphia with patrols in an
attempt to stem the bloodshed in
recent time, with plans to
extend the crackdown citywide.
Poverty has been blamed for most
gun violence crimes in
Philadelphia. “People say where
you find poverty, you're going
to have some problems,'' said
Sister Falaka Fattah, who
estimates she has saved 3,000
boys from gangs since founding
the House of Umoja in West
Philadelphia in 1968. According
to her, “When you treat life
like it doesn't count, it
becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy.''
'Unlimited flow of
handguns'
A quarter of Philadelphia's 1.4
million residents, and 35
percent of its children, live
below the official poverty line,
according to U.S. Census Bureau
figures published in August
2005, making it the
ninth-poorest big city in the
U.S. About 43 percent of the
city's population is black.
The number of people licensed to
carry handguns in Philadelphia
has surged since 1995, when
Pennsylvania relaxed its gun
laws, reports say. The state
doesn't require a permit or
waiting period and there is no
limit on how many someone can
buy. “It's not people beating
each other to death or stabbing
each other,'' said Diane Edbril,
executive director of CeaseFire
PA, a nonprofit group that aims
to curb gun violence. “There is
really an unlimited flow of
handguns. If you can buy one
lawfully in Pennsylvania, you
can buy 100.''
The shooting of 16-year-old
Malik Edmonds on November 11, on
a street in West Philadelphia
put the 2005 murder total over
the preceding year’s and capped
a week in which three other
teenagers were shot to death. A
14-year-old friend was charged
in the death of 13-year-old
Jevon Chestnut. There were no
immediate arrests in the other
three killings.
One of the deadliest areas in
the city includes parts of West
and Southwest Philadelphia where
thousands of Liberian immigrants
have resettled. This is
where 19-year old Layee Bility
was gunned down. The district,
with 250,000 residents including
African immigrants, particularly
Liberians had recorded 62
killings and 332 shootings as of
mid-October 2005.
