'He Saved Their Life': Loved Ones Remember Raymond Lighty, Gunned Down In Car With Daughters In South Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A father killed in cold blood is being hailed a hero for saving his daughters' lives. Forty-two-year-old Raymond Lighty was sitting in his minivan with two of his daughters when a gunman opened fire.
His loved ones say Lighty died protecting his children.
"They cherished their dad. They loved their dad. I mean, they is really hurt and heartbroken about that," the children's mother said.
It's a crime with no compassion. A father of five was gunned down outside his children's home, with his 16 and 13-year-old daughters in the car's passenger and backseats.
"My three daughters ran in the house like 'Mom, mom, they shot my dad, they shot my dad,'" the mother said.
A gunman fired the 14 shots on South 4th Street just before 6 p.m. Monday.
A woman who asked not to be identified described the victim, 42-year-old Raymond Lighty, as a good dad who told his daughters to duck when they heard the shots.
"He saved their life because if he wouldn't have said that, they would've been still in there and they would've got hurt, but thank God they didn't," she said.
She believes the shooting was a case of mistaken identity as Lighty lived in Upper Darby.
"That wasn't meant for him because he just pulled up. He had just pulled up to drop them off," the mother said.
As the Lighty family works to heal, the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network is doing its part to connect this traumatized community to resources.
"We're from one area to another area to another area, nonstop," a man said. "One of the services that we offer is counseling. There's a number of housing programs, there's food programs."
Eyewitness News caught up with the group Thursday night. Members say they've been busy, canvassing crime scenes with no end in sight.
"Philly right now is just really dangerous. It's not safe or how it used to be," one woman said.
"We're not trying to solve a crime out here. We're just trying to solve a problem," a man said.
"It's a big problem and I mean something gotta happen, you know," the gift's mother said.
Philadelphia police are reviewing surveillance video of the shooting.
The mother says she is just trying to be strong for her children.
