Gratz sophomore dies from shooting

As Celeste Featherstone walked back from enjoying the July Fourth fireworks with her brother, Kyle, and his 17-year-old friend to their Mantua neighborhood, she thought the night was over. But she was wrong.

Kyle Featherstone, 16, his friend and another teenager were caught in crossfire near 34th and Haverford around 11:40 p.m. when an unidentified gunman opened fire on a crowd of more than 100 people. Kyle, who sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and back of the head, died Monday night from his injuries. The two other teens were treated and released.

Police are still trying to piece together the crime to identify the suspect and determine why he fired on the crowd.

“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Patricia Featherstone said yesterday of her son, who had just completed his sophomore year at Gratz High School. “He loved basketball. He never got into trouble.”

She claims her son had stopped or gone back to watch a fight, but instructed his sister to keep going.

“He told her to walk up ’cause he wanted to go back and see a fight,” she said.

Latrice Featherstone, one of Kyle’s six siblings, said the shooting shocked her. “It wasn’t my brother,” she recalled thinking. “You’re not telling me they shot my brother.”