Steffy-Ross was one of the two teenagers killed in Sunday’s mass shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Steffy-Ross’ great-aunt, Bonnie McLain, said she talked to him just hours before the shooting happened.
“I said I will see you in the morning. That was the last time I spoke with him because when I got there the next morning, he wasn’t home, but I didn’t know why. I just didn’t know why. My neighbor came out, and she told me about it, about the mass shooting, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach only because I hadn’t seen him. He wasn’t there,” McLain said.
Soon after, McLain learned her great-nephew had been shot and killed while attending a party.
On Tuesday, McLain wanted to focus on the good memories.
“Matthew was a fun, loving kid that cared so much about everybody. Matthew would give you the shirt off your back. He had a friend who really had no clothes much and he said to me, when he got paid, ‘I am going to get him some pants, Aunt Bonnie, because he doesn’t have any pants.’ That was this kid. The biggest smile in the world as you can see, if you look at any pictures of him, he cared about people and he loved people, and he acted upon it,” McLain said.
Steffy-Ross’ mentor, Lee Davis, said the 17-year-old was ready to launch a clothing line and wanted to surprise his great-aunt.
“The first T-shirt that was going to come off the line was going to go to his Aunt Bonnie. It was very important for him to have that T-shirt go to her because of how important she was to him in his life,” Davis said.
“He finally had a goal. He had something that he was interested in. He had something he had a passion for, and he helped bring it out in him,” McLain said.
Matthew’s cousin, Jeana McLain, became emotional when talking about that future.
Source: Matthew Steffy-Ross’ family speaks out after mass shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side
