Three Adventist Children Killed by Philadelphia Car-jackers

by Monte Sahlin

By AT News Team, August 7, 2014

Terrance Moore, age 7; Joseph Reed, age 9; and Keiearra Williams, age 15, were all killed last week when two men took a car and raced off through the streets of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Keisha Williams, the mother of the three children, is in a medically induced coma at Temple University Hospital.

The family was selling fruit at a curbside stand for a church fund raising project when Corneilus Crawford and Jonathan Rosa sexually assaulted a real estate agent, stole her car and drove the Toyota 4Runner through the streets at a very high rate of speed, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. The two men have been charged with three counts of second degree murder, as well as several other crimes. The first court proceeding will be on August 13.

Yesterday (August 6) hundreds of mourners crowded into the North Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church where Pastor Keith Goodman, Sr., tried to bring a message of hope to the tragedy. The death of the three children had brought many people together, Goodman stated and that would likely result in good in the community despite the lives that had been ruined. The choir and the congregation sang spiritual songs and hymns of resurrection hope.

Pastor William Taliaferro, an associate pastor at the church and former director of faith-based and community programs for the major at city hall, prayed for the families and the neighborhood. "People have been known to say that time heals all wounds," he said. "But they don't know what they are talking about."

The Honorable Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia, attend the funeral, as did District Attorney Seth Williams and a number of other civic leaders. The event was paid for by National Basketball Association Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley.