Hundreds gather to remember Kada Scott, mourning a death that shook a community

The ache of Kada Scott’s death hung over a Northwest Philadelphia church Saturday as hundreds of people gathered to lay to rest a young woman whose disappearance filled them with anguish — and whose killing broke their hearts.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, city and state lawmakers, and scores of friends, family, and strangers moved by Scott’s story filled the pews of Mount Airy Church of God in Christ. Many wore pink, a nod to Scott’s favorite color.

The service began with photos and videos showing the milestones of Scott’s too-short life: A smiling toddler on a white toy horse. A beaming teen at her high school graduation. A young woman cheering for Penn State’s football team and walking the runway of a fashion show.

Scott, 23, who grew up in Mount Airy, was kidnapped from outside her workplace in Chestnut Hill in early October, police said, and for two weeks, her family and others held their breath in the hope that she would be found safe.

But on Oct. 18, police found her body, buried in a shallow grave in the woods behind the closed Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School in East Germantown. Police say she had been abducted and shot to death by Keon King, 21, for reasons that remain unclear. King has been charged with murder.

Saturday’s service did not dwell on Scott’s violent end, but instead celebrated her vibrant life. A bright daughter and encouraging sister. A stylish and funny friend. A performer with dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

“When tragedy took Kada from us, the city shook,” Minister Jana Allen told the crowd. “Communities once distant came together. … People saw their daughters, their sisters, their goddaughters in Kada.”

Her killing, Allen said, made people ask: “Ain’t I a woman?”

Parker told the crowd how she met Scott at the city’s Odunde Festival in June. She remembered how Scott had the confidence to shake her hand and express her interest in working for the city one day.

The mayor said the city would create an internship in honor of Scott to help young women from high school up to age 22 get work experience in city government.

Saturday’s service honored Black women — those who made Scott, who raised her, who loved her.

“God put something in the souls of the Black woman,” Bishop J. Louis Felton, pastor of the church, said in his final remarks. “We cannot celebrate the Black woman without celebrating Kada Scott. And we cannot celebrate Kada Scott without celebrating the Black woman.”

Kada Yanda Scott was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 18, 2001, sharing a birthday with her mother, Kim Matthews.

She was raised in the Mount Airy area, and attended Holy Cross Catholic School and Eastern Academy Charter School. She loved listening to music with her father, Kevin Scott, and was known as his “mini me,” his “Kay Kay.”

She loved to dance, listen to Rihanna, and perform in school plays, her family wrote in her obituary. She, her mother, and her younger sister Kinsey enjoyed doing one another’s hair and going shopping. She even started a pop-up beauty spa in the basement of her mother’s home.

After graduating from Pennsylvania State University last spring, Scott moved back to Philadelphia and started working as a community nursing assistant while looking for a job in fashion. In October, she was hired to work the overnight shift at the Terrace, a nursing home in Chestnut Hill.

Shortly after arriving at work the night of Oct. 4, police said, Scott met King outside the nursing home and was kidnapped.

Investigators believe King shot and killed her within about 20 minutes after she got into his car, and then, with the help of others, buried her body behind the school next to the Awbury Recreation Center.

The nature and extent of Scott’s relationship to King remain unclear.

At her funeral, those who loved her said the depth of the loss was profound.

“The world has dimmed in color,” said her aunt, Kelly Scott-Dryer.

“May the winds of love blow softly in your ear,” she said in a letter to her niece that she read aloud to those who gathered to remember Scott. “I love you. I miss you. And I wish you were here.”

After the service, Scott’s gold casket was loaded into a white, horse-drawn carriage and escorted to Chelten Hills Cemetery.

Mariam Douggins, who lives across the street, wept as the carriage arrived. She does not know Scott’s family, she said, but was so moved by the killing that she dressed in pink and had to come.

“I want to let her mother know I’ll be here every day if needed to check on her,” Douggins said.

Scott’s parents and sister sat stoically as Douggins and dozens of others lay pink and white roses atop the casket. When the crowd finished, they each stepped forward to place one of their own.

Finally, the sparkling white vault that held Scott’s body was lowered into the ground. Muffled cries punctuated the final prayers.

Kevin Scott stared straight ahead. Tears streaked his cheeks.

As he rose to walk toward his car, three of his brothers touched his shoulder. And just like that, the father melted into their arms and sobbed.