SELINSGROVE — Loyalty to a friend is what led to their son’s death, the parents of shooting victim Steven M. Rodriguez said Wednesday.

Rodriguez, 19, of 2078 N. Susquehanna Trail, Selinsgrove, was gunned down in his apartment late Monday night, allegedly by David Cannie Jr., 27, of Philadelphia, and two accomplices, Abdul Malik Saeed Walker, 25, of Williamsport, and Ibrahim Musa Wells, 25, of Mill Hall.

But Rodriguez was not their target, family members claim.

Steven was hiding a friend from the men, said Santa Rodriguez, Steven’s mother, based on information she received from others who were in his apartment when the shooting occurred.

“(Steven) told him to hide in the closet,” Santa said. When the three men arrived, Steven told them that the man they were looking for wasn’t there, but in Sunbury.

Wells told state police at Selinsgrove that he and the two others went to Steven’s apartment to confront “individuals” about marijuana that was stolen from Walker.

Friend hid in closet

All three were armed. Cannie is accused of shooting Steven twice, in the chest and thigh, with a 9mm handgun.

When Steven got up to fight the three men, he was shot in the chest, Santa said.

The friend remained hidden in the closet.

“(He) knew Steven would always protect him,” Santa said.

Steven’s aunt, and a woman who described herself as a “close friend,” asked that their names not be used, but said they wanted to speak out in Steven’s defense.

District Attorney Michael Sholley would not confirm nor deny the other man was at the apartment at the time of the slaying or comment on any aspect of the case Wednesday.

“It’s a sad and tragic loss, but we don’t want Steven portrayed (as a drug user) for his son to read one day,” Steven’s friend said.

Steven has lived on his own since August 2007, according to his girlfriend, Sherry Paul, of Selinsgrove. Paul has known Steven for 3½ years. Their son, Kaden, is 1 year old.

Paul declined to talk much about the incident, or about Steven, on Wednesday.

“It makes me sad to talk about it,” she said.

“This was his life, right here,” Santa said as she held the boy — who strongly resembles his father, she said — in her arms at her kitchen table on Wednesday.

“(Kaden) meant everything to him,” said Steven’s father, Anthony. They had just taken Kaden to see Steven at his job a few days before Steven was shot. “He was so excited to see him.”



Steven’s involvement with drugs never went beyond a social outlet, Santa said.

“It was more of a social thing,” Santa said. “He wasn’t hooked on it. Of course you tell your kids not to do it.”

But he didn’t believe it a was problem, saying that it would be made legal one day anyway.

“He was a regular teenaged kid that went through those things,” Anthony said.

They make friends, and start meeting girls, he said.

“Teenagers grow up, and everything changes,” Anthony said.

“He wasn’t perfect, but he was not involved in drugs,” said his aunt, who last saw him Saturday, when Steven was proudly showing off his baby at his parents’ Kratzerville home.

His friend also denied there was any drug involvement.

“He wasn’t into selling or taking drugs,” she said. “He was a vibrant kid who got along with everybody and, like a teenager, was friends with the wrong crowd,” she said.

“He was trying to do the best he could,” the aunt said.

Online court records show no prior arrests for Steven.

But while relatives dispute the suggestion that Steven was involved in drugs, arrest documents give no indication that anyone other than Rodriguez was the intended victim.

Wells, one of the suspects in the slaying, told police that the men went to Rodriguez’s apartment to confront “individuals” about supposedly stolen marijuana. During the ensuing argument one of the assailants struck Rodriguez and then another, allegedly Cannie, shot him.

When law enforcement officials were questioned about the family’s conflicting account of the intended victim, police sources said they were aware of the suggestion that another person was the intended victim, but declined to say anything further about whether they were investigating the claim or trying to confirm it.

Previous residents of Brooklyn, N.Y., Anthony and Santa moved to Pennsylvania when Steven was just a baby, “to make a better life for my children,” Santa said.

The pain of irony could be seen on her face as she spoke.

Steven is the second oldest child in the family, and has one sister and two brothers.

The entire family is still in shock over Steven’s sudden and tragic death.

“It’s still like a dream,” Santa said.

“Steven was a good person,” Anthony said. “Everybody liked him. He was very respectful. He was very friendly with people. He got along with everybody.”

Even the cashiers at a local convenience store knew and loved him, and often gave items to him and his family, on their charge, Santa said.

Steven was also very active, and enjoyed playing baseball, shooting pool and riding dirt bikes.

“He was definitely into his dirt-bike riding,” Santa said. “He was always up for a challenge.”

A family video shows Steven, at 2 years old, coming down a hill on his bike at the family’s previous address at Pine Meadows in Selinsgrove, his hands in the air.

“He was a daring kid, I’ll give him that much,” Anthony said.

Santa said the one word to describe Steven is “crazy.”

“He liked to help me do things,” Anthony said, particularly fix cars.

“He was definitely curious about everything,” Santa said.

However, he was much better at taking things apart than putting them back together.

“He would call me up and say, ‘I don’t know where this goes,’” Anthony said with a smile.

When Steven was a child, he loved motorcycles, and Santa said they had promised to buy him a motorcycle when he graduated from high school.

Steven was also a go-getter, they said, and set high goals for himself.

While working with Santa, who serves as manager of B.J.’s in Selinsgrove, he told her he wanted to do something like she was doing.

“He wanted to be up there to take charge of things, be in charge,” Santa said.

He never wanted a job that was low pay, she said. Just recently he told her that he needed to get his life together so he could do the things he wanted to do.

“He had very high expectations,” she said.

At the time of his death, he was working to rebuild the site of the soon-to-be Golden Grill Buffet along Susquehanna Trail in Hummels Wharf, and was hoping to obtain a position in the restaurant once it opened.

Steven had attended Selinsgrove Area High School, but never graduated. According to Santa, he was looking to earn his GED or join the Job Corps.

Tuesday night, the family held a candlelight service for him at his apartment, where he was shot fewer than 24 hours earlier.

“I looked up, and there were at least 50 people there,” Santa said.

People she didn’t even know, she said.

He had many friends, many who grew up with him, and many people who knew him from the sports he was involved in — particularly baseball.

Members of their church, St. Pius X, of Selinsgrove, have reached out by bringing the family food, and will be hosting a luncheon at the church on Saturday.

Steven’s parents are also pleased with the quick response by police on Monday night.

“They did a very good job, every single one of them,” Santa said.

“I hope they get what they deserve,” Anthony said of the three suspects. “The same thing they did to him.”

A visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at V.L. Seebold Funeral Home, 601 N. High St., Selinsgrove, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Selinsgrove, with the Rev. Ted Keating as celebrant.

Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery.

n E-mail comments to tpursell@dailyitem.com. Staff reporter Marcia Moore contributed to this report.