https://6abc.com/philadelphia-shooting-girl-shot-north/5738750/
https://6abc.com/philadelphia-shooting-girl-shot-north/5730099/
Funeral held for teen killed stepping off SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Sixteen-year-old Ceani Smalls was laid to rest on Saturday at Christlike Pleasant Green Faith Baptist Church in North Philadelphia. It was one week ago when Smalls was killed as she stepped off a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia.
Forty-one-year-old Robert Jamieson, a convicted felon, is accused of killing Smalls.
Authorities said Smalls was exiting the SEPTA bus at 22nd Street and Sedgley Avenue on November 30 when she was shot in the shoulder by Jamieson who was firing randomly at passengers.
Smalls was a student at Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School.
Some of her classmates were in attendance, sharing memories of her.
"She was kind, smart, she didn't really mess with nobody, she kept to herself," said Ronald Baker.
This year, 108 people under the age of 18-years-old have been struck by gunfire in Philadelphia. Just this week in West Philadelphia, a 15-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were shot. Both survived, but many at Smalls' funeral said they can't take the gun violence anymore.
"It's heart-wrenching, it's truly heartbreaking to see so many people shot and killed," said Keith Hairston, a pastor at Christlike Pleasant Green Faith Baptist Church in North Philadelphia.
To help get guns off the streets, Philadelphia police were at gun givebacks in the city on Saturday.
"It will be destroyed and it will never be in somebody's hand," said Sergeant James Gilrain with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Three guns were returned at the Germantown location at Every Murder Is Real Healing Center. The woman who founded the center lost her 20-year-old son to gun violence.
"Three might not sound like a lot, but that could be three lives, that could be 30 lives," said Victoria Greene, the founder of EMIR Healing Center.
Hairston said church leaders are hoping to get together with other local pastors in the area to organize prayer rallies so that the community can come together on this, so that no other child has to die from gunfire.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Students and staff members at Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia were unable to hold back tears Monday morning as they remembered a classmate whose life was cut short over the weekend.
The entire student body was left reeling after learning their friend and student, Ceani Smalls, was the latest victim of gun violence in Philadelphia.
"We'll never get a reason but we just have to continue to keep her memory alive and honor her legacy and everything she meant to all of us," said teacher Sean Snyder.
Authorities said Ceani was getting off a SEPTA bus at 22nd Street and Sedgley Avenue in North Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon when she was shot in the shoulder by a man firing randomly at passengers.
Man sentenced to 24-50 years in prison, admits he shot, killed girl in Strawberry Mansion
Robert Ross Jamieson pleads guilty to killing Ceani Smalls in 2019 as she got off SEPTA bus
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man accused of shooting and killing a teenager getting off a SEPTA bus two years ago has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in a plea deal with prosecutors.
Robert Ross Jamieson will spend the next 24 to 50 years in prison, as part of a negotiated plea deal in the shooting death of Ceani Smalls, who was 16.
Jamieson, 43, was originally charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder, after firing 14 rounds at North 22nd Street and West Sedgley Avenue in Strawberry Mansion two days after Thanksgiving 2019.
Related
Prosecutors say Jamison was high on PCP when he started firing his gun, allegedly agitated after being taunted by two young boys.
At the same time, they say, Smalls was getting off the bus after shopping at the mall, a reward from her parents, for her good report card.
People were running and ducking for cover. Smalls, who was wearing headphones and may not have heard the shots, was fatally struck.
Related
Smalls, who attended Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School, was described as a bubbly, bright straight-A student who wanted to be a dentist when she grew up.
