Kyree Cohen was almost home.
The 17-year-old was walking carefully through dark West Philadelphia streets late Tuesday, dangerous turf between his mother's house on North 54th Street and his great-aunt's house in the 1400 block of North 60th.
He never made it.
A Plymouth Caravan occupied by two men - one armed with a 9mm handgun, the other with a Chinese copy of an AK-47 assault rifle - drew near him just before midnight.
They opened fire. Cohen collapsed, mortally wounded, in the 1400 block of North Wanamaker Street, less than two blocks from his house. He was the 24th school-age victim of lethal violence in the city since September.
His death comes as thousands are expected to participate Saturday in a March to Save the Children in North Philadelphia that will wend through the neighborhood where 10-year-old Faheem Thomas-Childs was fatally shot Feb. 11 in a gun battle as he walked to Peirce Elementary School.
As slugs ripped into Cohen's chest and chin, other shots from the assault weapon tore through the side wall and window of the New Blue Velvet Lounge on the southeast corner of 59th and Master Streets. They left several holes the size of quarters in the outside stucco, and at least one slug ripped through a steel cigarette machine inside.
Two patrons standing at the bar were hit. One victim, a 27-year-old woman, was hospitalized in critical condition with a back wound. The other, a 41-year-old man, was hit in a shoulder and hand. He was treated at a nearby hospital.
From his cruiser, a police officer spotted the muzzle flashes and chased the minivan, calling for help over his radio. As he closed in, the pair inside opened fire on him.
The officer - who was not hit and did not fire - managed to capture one of the occupants after the minivan crashed into two cars at Walnut Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway. That man was charged with murder.
Cohen was a ninth grader at Overbrook High School. Yesterday morning, his mother, Renee, viewed the spot of blacktop where he had fallen. Just a few feet away from Master and Wanamaker Streets, a collection of teddy bears had sprouted in his memory.
"He was my son. Kyree was my oldest son," Renee Cohen cried as she was accompanied by friends in the bright morning sun. "He was a child. I wish they'd just stop it. I wish they'd just stop it. They done killed my baby. They killed my son."
Cohen's death was the city's 86th homicide of the year, compared with 76 for the comparable period last year.
