CHARACTER COUNTS

Charles Barkley offers to pay for children’s funerals

Jul 30, 2014, 5:49 PM | Updated: 5:49 pm

Charles Barkley is many things to many people.

A Hall of Fame basketball player. A basketball analyst. An outspoken critic of pretty much anything.

He’s also a good guy.

As reported on Yahoo! Sports, Barkley has offered to pay the funeral costs for three children who were killed following an alleged sexual assault and carjacking in North Philadelphia last week.

The children — Keiearra Williams, 15; Thomas Joseph Reed, 10; and Terrence Moore, 7 — were struck and killed on the morning of July 25 by a Toyota 4Runner that “lurched out of control and into a family selling fruit at Allegheny and Germantown Avenues,” according to Aubrey Whelan and Mike Newall of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Their mother, Keisha Williams, 34, was also injured, and remained hospitalized in critical condition as of Monday night.

The suspects were arrested and charged, but that doesn’t mean the horrible damage has not already been done. So Barkley, who spent the first eight seasons of his NBA career in Philadelphia, offered to help.

“Like most Philadelphians, many Americans, and people across the world that heard about this and were moved, [Barkley] wanted me to know that he wanted to pay for the funeral for these three children, and I put him in touch with the family so he can do that,” District Attorney Seth Williams said during a Monday press conference, according to Brian X. McCrone of Philly.com.

It’s a terrible shame this had to happen, but it’s nice of Barkley to step up and do what he can to try and make things easier on those most impacted by the tragedy.

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Charles Barkley offers to pay for children’s funerals