On a warm summer evening in Southwest Philadelphia, what began as a night of neighborhood basketball ended in a tragedy that would leave a family searching for answers for years to come. Nineteen-year-old Eric Woods, a beloved son and avid basketball enthusiast, was shot and killed on August 1, 2007, as he walked home from a game.
Born on Christmas Day in 1987, Eric was described by his mother, Monique Irvis, as a kind-hearted and consistently positive young man. He had graduated from John Bartram High School in 2005 and was working as a security guard on the University of Pennsylvania campus at the time of his death. His life was characterized by a love for dance as a child and a passion for basketball that saw him not only playing but also coaching younger children in his community.
The night of his death, Eric had been playing basketball, a regular pastime for him. As he made his way home near the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Divinity Street, he was fatally shot. Investigators later came to believe that Eric was the victim of mistaken identity, a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the immediate aftermath and for years to follow, no arrests were ever made in connection with his murder. The case grew cold, compounded by a lack of surveillance video in the dimly lit area where the shooting occurred.
In the years that followed, Eric's family, particularly his mother, has been relentless in their pursuit of justice. They have faced immense frustration with the investigation, including the devastating possibility that the police department may have lost his case file. Despite the passage of time, the family continues to honor his memory, holding vigils and seeking to keep his story alive in the hopes that someone with information will come forward. A reward has been offered by the City of Philadelphia for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Eric Woods' death.
