Teens found shot and killed off I-5 were ‘best friends,’ family says

SEATTLE – As the Washington State Patrol continues its investigation into the mysterious death of two teens found shot to death near I-5 late last week, family and friends are speaking out about the teens’ deaths. 

They say the two 16-year-olds were best friends and were always together. 

The body of Jahaz Phillips was found in the middle of a lane of I-5 on Thursday night at around 10:39 pm.  

Phillips’s family says he was best friends with Myion Coleman, the other 16-year-old who was also shot and killed that night. Coleman’s body was found not far away from Phillips’ on a ramp to the highway near NE 85th in a ditch. 

Family and friends of Jahaz Phillips say he loved to cook and play basketball and badminton. They say he was the funniest kid in the room and his death was so unexpected, it has been tough to process. 

“It’s hard,” said Alisha Quinones, a family friend. “Since I have known him since he was 3 or 4, he’s like another child to me.”

“Every time he would see me at school when he was little, he would always come up and give me a hug and say ‘Hi’,” Quinones said. 

Her daughter, Shanna, met him in preschool and the two became fast friends.  

“Out of everybody I went to daycare and elementary with, he was always that person I clung next to. He was the sweetest dude,” she said. 

The mother and daughter duo say he always had a smile that lit up the room.  

“We were always just laughing,” said Shanna.   

She says Jahaz’s sense of humor never left him, even after he lost his mom to cancer. The two are pictured below. 

“Growing up with his mom having cancer, he still kept a smile on his face,” said Shanna. “Then losing his mom, and he still had that bright touch to him after losing his mom, like going through all that, and just being a positive person just for like this to happen… it’s just not fair.”

Jahaz’s older sister, Tahayla, said he was the baby of the family.

“He was my little brother, but in a sense, he was also my big brother. I used to call him my little big bro.”

She said he was a great brother who was serious about his studies. The two bonded while watching their favorite shows and playing sports. 

“He was super, super, super, good at math, probably better than me,” she said. “We enjoyed the same TV shows, video games, even sports like basketball and badminton.”

Another loved one, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he also excelled as a cook.  

“He could cook the best breakfasts and our family just misses that so much,” she said. 

Tahayla says the family created an online fundraiser to help Jahaz rest in peace, alongside their late mother.   

“His death is really a complete shock. It’s a surprise, it’s unexpected, it’s senseless. We were just not prepared for this at all,” said Tahayla. 

Jahaz’s family is also asking the community to support a fundraiser for the family of his best friend Myion Coleman. Family and friends say the two did everything together and were very close.   

“That’s two young men that got their lives taken away, too young, too young. They should still be here,” said Quinones.

The Washington State Patrol says its investigation is ongoing.  

Although the WSP has confirmed the two deaths are connected, investigators haven’t elaborated as to how.

More on the story

2 Seattle teens found dead near I-5 with gunshot wounds, WSP investigating

Bodies of two teens found along I-5 in North Seattle are connected

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