Funeral for student where he was slain

The silver hearse rolled up over the curb and onto a sidewalk inside Elmwood Park, in Southwest Philadelphia, yesterday afternoon.

The hearse glided past a chestnut tree and the green-painted bench where Mamadou Makadji bled to death just four days ago.

Friends and family closed in, helping to remove Makadji's coffin - a pine box draped with an ornate black-and-gold prayer rug.

And so began a Muslim funeral service inside a city park for a 22-year-old student from Mali, West Africa.

More than 120 men, some wearing colorful jalabia tunics and kufi skull caps, stood four rows deep. They turned toward Mecca and prayed over Makadji's body. The women hung back, praying under a tree with heart-shaped leaves.

"If you are far away from the law, this is the time to come back," preached Imam Sheikh Sheriff, of Masjid Al-Islaah Community Center, 65th Street and Elmwood Avenue.

It was a moment of grace and peace at the site of a violent, inhuman crime.

Just after 1 a.m. on Monday, a gunman approached Makadji and two friends as they sat on a wooden bench inside the park at 71st Street and Buist Avenue.

The gunman ordered them to empty their pockets, but Makadji, whose primary language is French, didn't understand. When Makadji failed to immediately comply, the robber shot and killed him with a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun. Makadji's friends fled and were unharmed. No money was taken, police said.

Makadji had arrived here less than three months ago on a student visa. He was enrolled in the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program at Temple University and hoped to eventually earn a degree in business or computer technology.

"We all come from the same dream," said Makadji's cousin, Abdoulaye Traore, 33, a business consultant who earned his MBA from Saint Joseph's University. Several police officers, including two from the Victims Services Unit and three homicide detectives, attended yesterday's funeral. With tear-streaked cheeks, Makadji's uncle, Mame Makadji, gripped the hand of homicide Detective Thomas Gaul.

Before the funeral service, community members stood up and talked about the need to love one another and to forgive - forgive the man who killed Makadji.

Lt. Nicholas Brown, of the 12th Police District, said that he has never seen anything like the park gathering and funeral in his 19 years on the force.

"What's amazing is how they talk about forgiveness," said Brown, who came to lend support.

A police cruiser escorted the hearse up Buist Avenue. A crowd followed on foot. Curious residents came out of their homes to watch. The procession headed toward Philadelphia International Airport, where Makadji's body was bound for home.