Family remembers Isya Stanley, 17-year-old Friere Charter graduate killed in Fairmount Park

Regina Jones Stanley had spent weeks planning to host a big graduation party for her daughter, Isya, who finished her senior year at Friere Charter School in early June. Within days, she was planning a funeral instead.

A week that began with joy ended in tragedy when the 17-year-old was shot and killed at a party she attended with her boyfriend in Fairmount Park. Four other teens — an 18-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys — were shot and wounded that night in a volley of gunfire that interrupted a large outdoor gathering on June 14.

According to police, a crowd of about 100 youths gathered in the park along Greenland Avenue near 33rd Street and Ridge Avenue when the shots were fired around 10:50 p.m.

Stanley, who was shot in the chest and shoulder, was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later at Temple University Hospital.

The motive for the crime is unclear, police said. No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.

Stanley was the ninth person under the age of 18 to be killed by gunfire in Philadelphia this year. According to the city comptroller’s office, 110 people have died by bullets so far in 2024. And while homicides have dropped by nearly 40% citywide, the toll is enormous.

“That was my girl, she was my world. … That’s my baby and I love her dearly,” Jones Stanley said.

She remembered the graduation party her family had thrown for the teenager just a day earlier. Sixteen people had packed into the first two rows of the Dell Music Center to celebrate her graduation. Stanley practically danced across the stage, her mother said, her beaming smile framed by her trademark red hair.

They then welcomed their loved ones to their home in Cobbs Creek, where a photographer captured messages from friends and family congratulating Stanley and wishing her success in college—a dream that would never come true.

Now Stanley’s parents hope that the police will find and arrest the murderer.

“I have to get justice for my little girl. I have to,” said Stanley’s father, I-Self. “I’m not going to sleep well until then. This is my only daughter and I’m heartbroken.”

In the Stanleys’ home recently, sadness mixed with memories of graduation. A congratulations banner hung beside the front steps. Inside, dozens of photos documenting her life that was all too short lined the counter, and her high school diploma was displayed prominently on the mantel.

Stanley’s parents remembered their daughter as outgoing, friendly, and precocious. At 14, she launched her own clothing line, Medallion Apparel, after teaching herself graphic design. She planned to attend Morgan State University in Baltimore, where she would study business and entrepreneurship.

Her gregarious nature would have benefited her in this work, her parents said. Stanley thrived on social interactions. She was “the life of every party,” said Demetria Wright, her academic adviser at Friere, an assessment her mother echoed.

At Friere, Stanley was a founding member of the dance team, where she taught younger children, created dance TikToks, and was the center of attention on the dance floor at prom.

She wasn’t always so outgoing, her mother said, and she was quite shy as a child. Jones Stanley credited the years she spent learning boxing and self-defense at James Shuler Memorial Gym with making her the confident teenager she is today.

For Wright, the moment that captured Stanley’s personality was April, when the school invited World Cafe Live, the West Philly music venue, to conduct a music education workshop. When they asked volunteers to make a beat and rap over it, Stanley’s hand shot into the air.

She threw herself into composing the beat, her fingers dancing across the keyboard as she leaned forward to focus, her classmates dancing behind her. When it was time to perform, Stanley danced and rapped as she bounced around the classroom in her camouflage pants and furry black boots with a big smile on her face.

“That’s my favorite memory of her because she’s so enthusiastic. She got everyone else excited,” said Wright, who immediately started filming when Stanley hit the keys. “It was a really fun moment and I’m so grateful I was able to capture that.”

Editor Rodrigo Torrejón contributed to this article.