EXCLUSIVE: Girlfriend Speaks Out After Man Killed While Carrying Baby, Walking With Kids In Frankford
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The girlfriend and mother of a man shot and killed in Philadelphia's Frankford neighborhood spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News on Wednesday. He was gunned down while carrying a baby in a car seat.
The baby was not hurt, but the man who was carrying the baby succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Philadelphia detectives are working to track the gunman down. The victim's family is devastated.
"He was amazing, funny, smart," said Nadyah Tolbert, the victim's girlfriend.
Family and friends of 30-year-old Stephen Hoston remember him as humble, kind, and hardworking.
Hoston was shot multiple times at Hawthorne and Harrison Streets Tuesday night while carrying a 6-month-old baby boy in a car seat.
"He did everything he could to protect the baby," Tolbert said.
Tolbert says the baby is her nephew.
In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, Tolbert says the gunfire broke out as they were walking from her grandmother's home to his mother's home a few blocks away.
She says they walked right past the gunman, who waited to get behind them before opening fire.
"He was a good person in a bad neighborhood with a bunch of dumb people," Tolbert said.
Tolbert's nieces were walking with them when the bullets went flying. One of them is 5 years old. The other one is 11 or 12.
"Something they traumatized by. Just babies," Tolbert said. "They shouldn't have witnessed that."
None of the children were hurt, but Hoston succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
When asked what advice he would give to Philadelphia residents afraid to walk the streets, Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Ben Naish says this incident was a targeted shooting.
"I will reassure the public that that was not a random shooting," Naish said. "That was a targeted individual shooting."
Hoston made a living painting industrial parts and driving a forklift at a manufacturing company.
His mom, who didn't want to show her face, wants justice for her son.
"It's just heart-wrenching that he's not here," she said. "How can you look yourself in the mirror? There were children there. Regardless of what you had against my son, there were children there."
If you have any info on the identity or whereabouts of the suspect, police want you to give them a call.
Hoston's family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral.
For a list of gun violence resources in Philadelphia, click here.
