By all accounts Kevin Wiggins was a hard working and kind man who wanted nothing more than to build a better life for his wife and 2 children. Now his family mourns his death at the hands of a murderer.
"While he was laying there he did tell me that he loved me, and I responded my love back to him. I just told him to hang in there, but..." They were the final words Juanita Wiggins would share with her husband of 17 years.
49-year-old Kevin Wiggins Sr. was shot in the back and mortally wounded outside his Sycamore Street home at 3:10 yesterday morning. He was returning from work at the janitorial services company he owned.
Juanita said her husband was a, "Very good man. He was an honest man, he made an honest living. This neighborhood right here is a troubled neighborhood, you know? And he (saw) it was a troubled neighborhood, and all he wanted to do was just get us out of here."
Instead, Wiggins became Camden's 29th homicide victim this year. Police believe he was an innocent bystander who stumbled into suspects fleeing a home invasion next door to his own home in the 300 block of Sycamore. A note on that door indicated no one interested in commenting.
Wiggins' wife Juanita says she heard noises and then a gun shot and saw 1 person running. Her husband was shot across the street and managed to stagger to his own sidewalk where he collapsed.
21-year-old Tiarra Wiggins, a college student, and 18-year-old Kevin Jr. are heartbroken over the loss of their father.
In addition to his janitorial company Wiggins worked part time as a security guard at Rutgers Camden. His wife says he routinely put in 16 hours days.
Investigators say they have no suspects yet.
