Person of interest sought as family tries to cope
The grieving family of a Weymouth teen who was gunned down steps from a Dorchester church the week before Christmas said the tragic loss has left them searching for answers about the killing that darkened their holidays.
“I don’t know,” said James Murphy, the step-grandfather of Phillip Demings, who police say was shot and killed Dec. 19 on Bowdoin Street.
“He was a respectful young man,” Murphy said. “No one ever had a problem with him.”
Demings was shot multiple times that night, a short distance from St. Peter’s Parish. Police believed Demings was targeted. The first cops at the scene found Demings suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds and pronounced him dead at the scene. It was the city’s 54th homicide of 2017.
Investigators released a surveillance photo yesterday of a man on a cellphone who is wanted in connection with the ongoing investigation into Demings’ death. Anyone who recognizes the man is urged to call BPD homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.
“I hope they catch the person who did it,” Murphy told the Herald, adding that the Christmas season has been particularly difficult for Demings’ family.
“It’s been pretty rough,” he said. “When I found out about it, his mother called us in the middle of the night. I saw it on the news, but I didn’t know it was him.”
Murphy said his stepgrandson lived in Weymouth with his mother and his father had a place in Boston. Looking out from his porch overlooking Dorchester’s Stanton Street, Murphy recalled the teen’s earlier years.
“I have known him since he was born,” Murphy said. “He used to ride his bicycle up and down the sidewalk.”
A visitation with Demings’ family will be held Saturday at George Lopes Funeral Home in Mattapan at 10 a.m., followed by a celebration of Demings’ life at 11 a.m. He is survived by his parents, Phillip M. Demings and Khatijah King, a younger brother, Kharl, and, according to his obituary, a “host of family and friends.”