C Jay was the grandson of famed dancer Bill Bailey, and singer Pearl Bailey was his great-aunt.

Turf war eyed in teen's slaying

He crossed wrong side of Ridge Ave.

By ROSE DeWOLF

dewolfr@phillynews.com

Late last week, Edward Craig "C Jay" Jackson crossed Ridge Avenue for the last time.

Possibly, police say, because he crossed the line.

It's no secret in Strawberry Mansion that some teens who live south of Ridge have it in for those who live north of the street, as C Jay did. Now, cops are investigating whether this turf-war mentality led to the slaying of the 17-year-old.

Jackson died of multiple gunshot wounds at 1:46 a.m. Friday. He had just taken his longtime girlfriend, Katrina Robinson, 17, to her home on Patton Street near Norris in Strawberry Mansion, as he'd done many times before. He was walking on Norris, heading back toward his home on 31st Street near York, when he was gunned down.

Police officers patrolling nearby heard shots and found him fatally wounded, lying on the sidewalk. C Jay was the grandson of famed dancer Bill Bailey, and singer Pearl Bailey was his great-aunt.

C Jay's death has been especially hard for family and friends to take because, as Homicide Lt. Joseph I. Maum put it, "It wasn't a random shooting. It was close up, and he was the target."

Maum said there was nothing in C Jay's background that linked him to serious bad news, except perhaps for the fact that he lived in Strawberry Mansion.

It's early in the investigation, Maum said, but detectives have heard talk that C Jay might have been a victim of the bad feelings among Strawberry Mansion neighborhoods. There's talk that he might have been blamed for a shooting he didn't do, Maum said.

"C Jay never harmed nobody in his life," said his grandmother Pernell Bailey.

His cousin and close friend, Prince Norfleet, 19, said, "Whoever shot him knew he wouldn't have a gun to shoot back because C Jay didn't own a gun. C Jay wasn't into that tough-guy stuff."

His mother, Pearl Bailey Jackson, said, "He didn't hang out with a gang. All he cared about was his work and his girlfriend."

And Delores Moore, acting manager at the Taco Bell in the Gallery mall, where C Jay worked after school and in the summer, said, "He was a nice kid who got along with everybody.

"He worked as a cashier, or in the food line, or at anything that needed doing," she said. When his co-workers learned that he'd been killed, "it shocked all of us. We couldn't believe it."

That C Jay might be a victim of turf hostilities seems possible to his sister, Erica, who has had the name C Jay and angels' wings tattooed on her arm in his memory. Maybe it was significant to somebody that C Jay lived north of Ridge Avenue, and Katrina lives south of it.

No matter which side of Ridge Avenue a young person lives on, said Strawberry Mansion community activist Liz Bacone, life is a struggle. "There's not enough for kids to do here," she said. "There is jealousy. There is pettiness. There are adults who act like fools."

And too often, she said, there is violence.

Her organization, the Community Association of Strawberry Mansion, works on programs to prevent violence, she said, but financial support is hard to find.

Norfleet said he's heard that witnesses on Norris Street reported that the shooters were 17 and 18 years old and drove off in a burgundy Ford Crown Victoria. He said he's also heard that a guy who lived south of Ridge Avenue had been shot by somebody who drove a red van. Maybe the guy's friends thought C Jay was responsible because he drove a red van, Norfleet said.

According to his family, C Jay was diligent but not dull. He was friendly with all their neighbors. He was a happy-go-lucky guy, said his mother. "Some people called him 'footworks,' " she said, "because he was a great dancer."

That wasn't surprising, she said, because C Jay was the grandson of a great dancer: Bill Bailey.

"Bill Bailey was my father, and I'm named for his sister," she said. Bill Bailey, who died in 1978, was a famous tap dancer, who appeared with Duke Ellington among others, until he decided to give up show business to become a minister. His sister, Pearl Bailey, sang about him in the song, "Bill Bailey, won't you please come home." C Jay's grandmother, Pernell, is Bill Bailey's widow.

Pernell Bailey is putting her faith in God.

"I believe God is just," she said. "One way or the other, justice will be done."