Outpouring of support for family of man slain for headphones

THE FAMILY of Christian Massey, the 21-year-old shot dead in Overbrook on Saturday during a bungled robbery attempt involving a $300 pair of headphones, will be able to give the young man a proper burial, thanks to a groundswell of support they received after a story in the Daily News yesterday.

Services for Massey - which the family would have struggled to afford without the support - will take place Monday at Hickman Temple A.M.E. Church, on Baltimore Avenue near 50th Street, beginning with a viewing from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by a funeral ceremony, the Massey family said.

Massey was shot twice on Lebanon Avenue near 58th Street on Saturday during the robbery attempt. One bullet punctured his liver and lungs and another lodged in his right arm, relatives said.

Massey's body was picked up yesterday from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he died after the shooting, by West Philadelphia's Francis Funeral Home. He'll be buried at Fernwood Cemetery, on Baltimore Avenue in Lansdowne.

Special Olympics has provided the cemetery plot, while the Crime Victims Compensation Act defrayed the expenses for the funeral, said Pebble Hill, Massey's cousin.

Massey attended the now-defunct Don Guanella School, an Archdiocese of Philadelphia facility for special-needs boys in Springfield, Delaware County, and was mainstreamed into Marple Newtown High School before graduating in June.

Donations for Massey's family can be sent to Hickman Temple A.M.E. Church, 5001 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143.