Raymond Lighty

Raymond Lighty, a 42-year-old Black man from Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, was a devoted father to his children, who his family said he worked hard to care for. Loved ones remembered him as a good dad who was cherished by his five children. His life was cut short in an act of shocking violence that his family believes was a tragic case of mistaken identity.

On the evening of November 1, 2021, at approximately 5:45 p.m., Raymond was sitting in the driver's seat of his gray minivan on the 900 block of South 4th Street in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood. He had just pulled up to either pick up or drop off his daughters. His 16-year-old daughter was in the front passenger seat, and his 13-year-old daughter was in the back, while a third daughter stood nearby. Suddenly, a man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask walked directly up to the minivan and fired at least 14 shots through the front windshield at point-blank range. Raymond was struck multiple times in the head, chest, and torso. His loved ones said that in his final moments, he told his daughters to duck, an act that they believe saved their lives. Miraculously, none of the children were physically injured in the hail of bullets.

Philadelphia Police officers responded to the scene and rushed Raymond to Jefferson University Hospital, but he was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. The brutal, close-range nature of the attack was evident to investigators, who found 14 spent shell casings on the street, some just inches from the van's front bumper. The minivan’s windshield was riddled with bullet holes. Police began reviewing footage from private surveillance cameras in the area, hoping to trace the path of the shooter, who was seen running west through a parking lot toward 5th Street.

From the outset, authorities and Raymond’s family believed he was not the intended target. He lived in a different county and had just arrived at the location. The theory was that the killing was a retaliatory shooting and that Raymond was tragically mistaken for someone else. A week after the murder, family and friends gathered for a vigil to remember the loving father. His mother, Eva Lighty, spoke through her grief, saying, "I don't wish nothing on the guy that did it, but I pray that they catch him so he can pay for what he did. And I wish people would think before they react."

In February 2022, the Philadelphia Police Department publicly identified 39-year-old Nushar Scott as the suspect, issuing a warrant for his arrest on charges of murder and weapons violations. Scott remained at large for nearly a year. In December 2022, police also named him as a suspect in a separate, fatal shooting of a city sanitation worker, 35-year-old Ikeem Johnson, which had occurred in November 2022. Scott was finally arrested in January 2023.

In April 2025, Nushar Scott stood trial for the murder of Ikeem Johnson. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and the following month, he was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. At the time of his conviction, prosecutors noted that Scott was also facing charges for another murder, with proceedings expected to begin in May 2025, which was understood to be the case of Raymond Lighty.

However, following Scott's life sentence for the murder of Ikeem Johnson, the final disposition of the charges in Raymond Lighty's case is not clear from available public records. As of late 2026, Nushar Scott is serving a life sentence for a different murder. The case of the devoted father killed in front of his daughters remains a profound tragedy. Anyone with information is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-TIPS.