Mother seeks answers after son is gunned down, killed in Philadelphia
Patricia Williams says her last words to her son, 29-year-old Gerren Cream, were of love.
PHILADELHPIA (WPVI) -- A mother from Camden, New Jersey, went searching for her son after receiving a frantic text.
She filed a missing person's report, only to find out he'd been gunned down in Philadelphia.
Patricia Williams says her last words to her son, 29-year-old Gerren Cream, were of love.
"The last words we said to each other were, I said, 'I love you boo, boo.' That's what I called him. And he said, 'I love you more, Mom,'" Williams recalled.
On March 4, 2023, at 12:17 a.m., police were called to the 4300 block of Lawndale Avenue in the Juniata neighborhood for reports of a person with a gun.
When they arrived, they found a man in a rear alleyway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"They had no idea who he was," Williams said.
Cream didn't have an ID on him when police found him. The next day, Williams received a text from her son's then-girlfriend.
"She asked 'Have you seen your son? I haven't seen him since last night.' I immediately started texting and texting him, 'Hey where are you? Get in touch with me,'" Williams said.
She filed a missing person's report and that's when she says she was contacted by police, who told her Cream was dead.
She says she has no idea why he was in Philadelphia.
"I believe, probably from I'm sure tattoos or fingerprints or whatever, and that's how they identified him," she said on how police identified Cream.
At the time of Cream's death, the homicide rate in that district was 79 per 100,000 people, which was triple the citywide rate of almost 25 per 100,000.
The City of Philadelphia is offering up to $20,000 in reward money for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
All you have to do is call the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.
"He's missed sorely each day," said Williams.
