Ramonita Jusino, goal-oriented North Philadelphia teen with big plans, dies at 19

Editor’s note: This obituary is presented in partnership with the Philadelphia Obituary Project, a nonprofit committed to memorializing city victims of homicide whose deaths have otherwise been overlooked.

Ramonita Jusino embodied the qualities of a Capricorn: goal-oriented, hardworking, and responsible. She identified so closely with her zodiac sign that last year she got a tattoo of the constellation on her upper left arm.

Ms. Jusino was focused on earning money so she could open a salon with her sister and travel. She was also interested in real estate and wanted to leave Philadelphia to find a better lifestyle.

So, she didn’t mind that she was scheduled to work on her birthday, Jan. 12, as an overnight stocker at Walmart. She would have one more shift to go, then she was going to let loose and celebrate turning 19 with her sister, boyfriend, and friends that weekend. She planned to wear white from head to toe.

On Thursday, Jan. 13, Ms. Jusino, at her grandmother’s house in the 200 block of West Glenwood Avenue in North Philadelphia, dressed in her Walmart uniform and about to leave for her night shift, was killed when a spray of bullets was fired at the house around 9:40 p.m., hitting her in the chest. She had been 19 years old for one day.

According to police, three men jumped out of a light-color Chevrolet Impala and fired at least 20 shots at the house from across the street. The family believes the target of the shooting was a male relative. Police have not made any arrests.

“I still can’t believe it,” said her mother, Angela Morales. “Sometimes I wish my phone would ring and it’s her saying, ‘Syke, Mommy, I got you.’ There are days I can’t get out of my bed because I miss her so much. I always thought home is the safest place, but it’s not.”

Ms. Jusino was born in 2003 in Camden to Morales and Jorge Jusino five months premature and weighing one pound. She spent several months in the hospital, and when it was time to go home, Morales dressed her in doll clothes from Toys R Us.

Ms. Jusino and her sister Kelixa were less than a year apart, and they were inseparable. For four months every year, from Ms. Jusino’s birthday in January until her sister’s birthday in April, the two were the same age.

She also had three sisters on her father’s side: Yamillet, Carmen, and Yasmarie.

Ms. Jusino graduated from Philadelphia Virtual Academy in 2021, and the family went to Kalahari, an indoor water park in the Poconos, to celebrate. They watched her graduation on YouTube in the car and cheered when her name was called.

Rather than launching her career right away, Ms. Jusino took a gap year to work, save up money, and develop the salon concept with her sister. She and her boyfriend were also looking forward to a trip to Jamaica and moving in together. She wanted to start a family once she began her career.

“She had all of these plans,” her sister Yamillet said. “She knew what she wanted, and her smile was contagious. She had a big heart.”

Ms. Jusino was fun and outgoing and enjoyed smoking hookah and sipping Hennessy, making jokes and acting goofy. Her favorite foods were blueberry pancakes and chicken Alfredo, and she enjoyed anime and drawing. Ms. Jusino and her closest sister loved doing their hair and makeup and posting photos on Instagram.

“I want to find justice for my daughter,” Morales said. “I know it won’t bring her back to me — that’s what I really want — but it would bring some peace to my heart. It’s inhumane how it happened, especially to an innocent, beautiful soul like her.”

After Ms. Jusino’s death, her four sisters got the same tattoo that reads: “She’s gone but she’s everywhere.”

A reward of up to $20,000 is available to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Ramonita’s murder. Anonymous calls may be placed to the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.

Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.