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Questions remain in fatal shooting of man, wounding of Sheriff Jewell Williams’ son

The son of Philadelphia’s sheriff remained hospitalized Monday recovering from gunshot wounds he received during a sidewalk attack Friday that killed a man renovating a North Philly house.

Jewell Williams Jr., son and namesake of Philadelphia’s sheriff, remained hospitalized Monday recovering from gunshot wounds he received during a brazen sidewalk attack Friday that killed a man renovating a house in North Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, a funeral was held Monday for shooting victim Nasir Iman Robertson-Sadat, 36.

Robertson-Sadat was shot in front of a house he had recently bought and was renovating at 16th and Clearfield Streets, said Terry Starks, a friend and community activist, who added that he did not know how or even if Robertson-Sadat knew Williams Jr.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Starks, 42, said Monday while preparing to attend the funeral.

Robertson-Sadat’s memorial service was held at the Philadelphia Masjid, and he was buried at Friends Southwestern Cemetery in Darby Borough, according to the Louise E. & William W. Savin Funeral Home, which handled arrangements.

Starks said he last spoke to Robertson-Sadat two weeks ago, when they discussed the fourth annual Play for Peace basketball tournament scheduled for July 20 at the Eighth and Diamond Streets playground.

“He was a great and good-spirited person,” Starks said of Robertson-Sadat. "Always outgoing. He was the glue that held everyone together.” Starks said he did not know Williams Jr., 40.

Why anyone would want to shoot either man was a mystery, said Starks, founder of Express Urself Urban Crisis Response Center in North Philadelphia.

Court records show that Robertson-Sadat was found not guilty of reckless driving and related counts in 2008, and pleaded guilty to drug charges in March 2010, for which he was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months’ house arrest and electronic monitoring followed by four years’ probation. A 2006 attempted-murder charge, a 2010 firearms charge, and a 2010 aggravated-assault charge all were dismissed.

Sheriff Williams “remains upset and concerned” but will not comment about his son’s medical condition or the shooting, Dan Gross, his spokesperson, said Monday.