HOMICIDE VICTIM WAS SOON TO BE A FATHER

WEST PALM BEACH — Kerwin Jamar Richards’ world was about to change. He was going to be a dad. The 23-year-old spent most of his life fifilling the father- fifififigure role for his younger siblings and nephews, said his sister, Kelsey Penny. He was ready — and eager — to raise his own child, she said.

Richards was shot to death early Saturday along Belvedere Road near its intersection with Georgia Avenue. Bullets also hit at least three businesses on that block.

Police said Richards ran o u t o f a v e h i c l e a f t e r i t crashed into a parked car on the north side of the road. He was shot and killed while he was outside the vehicle, according to authorities.

Police wouldn’t comment on whether Richards was driving or whether anyone was in the vehicle with him. They did not provide details about which direction Richards’ vehicle was heading, nor did they say from where they believe the suspected gunman came.

All they’ve said is that the shooting was targeted.

Penny got a call early that morning that her big brother was hurt. Before she made it to St. Mary’s Medical Center, she knew — “I just felt it in my soul that he was gone. I felt him leave me,” she said.

Born 20 months apart, Penny and Richards were known as “the twins.”

Their grandmother raised them in Riviera Beach in a neighborhood where they made lifelong friends, and where Richards, as a teenager, met the woman with whom he’d conceive a child.

Richards went to Palm Beach Gardens High School, Penny said, and played basketball on community teams.

Richards was an entertainer, Penny said, frequently cracking jokes and dancing.