Keisha Furlow, 45, was remembered by loved ones days after police charged a suspect.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Family and friends gathered Friday in North Philadelphia to remember Keisha Furlow, a 45-year-old mother police said was beaten to death with bricks in an alley days earlier.
The gathering turned a narrow block into a place of grief after a violent death that police said began as an early Sunday homicide investigation. Dawaun Lewis, 30, has been charged with murder, robbery and related offenses. Investigators said surveillance video helped identify him after Furlow was found with severe facial injuries.
Furlow was found Sunday in a rear alley near the 2700 block of North Opal Street. Police said medics pronounced her dead at 6:14 a.m. Investigators recovered two bloodied bricks near her body and said they believe the bricks were used in the attack. Loved ones returned Friday to the same area to honor her life and to comfort one another after a week that moved from shock to an arrest.
Her daughter, Hysheemah Jubilee, described Furlow as caring and full of light. “My mom was very sweet, very much a bright person,” Jubilee said. “My mom did whatever she had to do for everybody.” Jubilee spoke while holding Furlow’s youngest child, an 11-month-old daughter. Friday also was graduation day for Furlow’s oldest daughter, adding another painful detail to a family already mourning a sudden loss.
Police said detectives reviewed surveillance footage after the killing and later identified Lewis as a suspect. He was arrested Wednesday in the 2100 block of Girard Avenue after police released images of a man wanted for questioning. Authorities said Furlow’s purse was taken after the assault and later found a few blocks away, emptied of its contents. Police have not publicly released a motive.
Family friend Alexis Stackhouse said the violence felt especially painful because it happened in a neighborhood tied to the family’s history. “This is the community we all grew up in,” Stackhouse said. “My grandmother lived down the street. To go away and come back and see this now, it’s sad.” Friends and relatives said they are still trying to understand how Furlow’s life ended in such a brutal way.
Lewis remains charged as the case moves through the criminal process. Police have described the investigation as aided by surveillance video and public help. The next steps are expected to include court proceedings in Philadelphia, where prosecutors will present the charges and evidence gathered by detectives.
As of Saturday, June 13, Lewis was in custody on murder and robbery charges, and Furlow’s family was left preparing to bury a mother of four while caring for the children she left behind.
Author note: Last updated June 13, 2026.