Vigil held to honor father slain in corner store shooting in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Family and friends of a man slain while working at a corner store in Philadelphia's Brewerytown neighborhood gathered to honor him and release balloons outside the store where he was killed.

"I want to say enough is enough, no more violence," said Rosa Diaz, the widow of 37-year-old Jose Alberto Almonte, through an interpreter. "He was a great father, great son, great brother."

The father of four was shot to death inside of the Jefferson Food Market on the corner of 29th and Jefferson streets, around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night. He was shot in the neck while stocking shelves.

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Philadelphia police are investigating after a corner store employee was shot and killed in the city's Brewerytown neighborhood on Thursday.

State Representative Donna Bullock (D) lives in the area and felt compelled to attend the vigil.

"Anyone, any one of us is one second away, one block away, one event away from perhaps being an innocent bystander or victim of a senseless crime," said Rep. Bullock.

Almonte came to Philadelphia 13 years ago for a better life. The president of the Dominican Grocers Association said four grocers had been killed in the last year and demanded justice.

"We come from other countries to improve the city, we are not criminals," said Enerolina Milendez. "We have left a lot of children without fathers."

Police don't have a description of the shooter, and no weapons were recovered at the scene. They are looking at surveillance video.