South Jersey man gunned down in Philly. His family, and NFL Films, talk the loss

Before he began building a career as an audio engineer and drummer, Montez G. Hardy II prepared a foundation through education.

But the NFL Films employee died at 27, the victim of gunfire on a Philadelphia street.

Now, an online appeal is raising funds in his honor to support one of the institutions that had helped Hardy find early success.

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“He was on his way,” Montez Hardy of West Berlin said of his son.

Philadelphia shooting victim remembered as 'warm, fun, kind'

The younger Hardy “was a warm, fun, kind and creative shining light,” says the GoFundMe appeal organized by Vince Caputo at NFL Films in Mount Laurel.

"There are a lot of people here who loved him," said Caputo, NFL Film's vice president of audio.

Hardy began drumming at about age 7, took lessons through high school, and played for several bands with a focus on jazz, his father said.

“We started him out with a drum pad, then got his first drum set,” Hardy recalled. “It wasn’t very long before it transitioned from noise to music."

As his son grew older, Hardy said, "Gigging was his part-time job and I was his roadie."

Montez Hardy II's family emphasized education

But, Hardy added, “His mother (Kim Hardy) and I instilled in him that college was not an option. He was going. It was just a matter of figuring out which school.”

The younger Hardy earned a degree in sound design and audio at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He interned at NFL Films before moving over four years from part-time to full-time status.

"I had the pleasure of watching him grow from a seasonal hire into someone that we really appreciated and could recognize that he was extremely talented," said Caputo.

"He had a great work ethic," he continued. "Montez was the kind of guy who, once he had his own responsibility completed, he'd go around the whole department, asking if he could help."

Hardy was also a graduate of the Philadelphia Creative & Performing Arts High School, with his family paying tuition for the South Jersey youth.

The family chose the high school as the beneficiary of the GoFundMe campaign, which had raised more than $11,000 by Thursday afternoon.

Hardy lived in recent years in Philadelphia, where he loved the nightlife, his father said.

“I think that was part of his demise,” he said sadly. “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Parents' concern over Philadelphia gun violence

Hardy was fatally shot on North Dekalb Street in the city’s Mantua section around 4:10 a.m. on Easter morning.

A motive for the crime was not immediately known, according to Philadelphia police.

“The gun violence in Philadelphia is just ridiculously horrible,” said the elder Hardy, noting he regularly viewed TV news reports out of concern for his son’s safety.

“It just doesn’t make any sense.”

The police department is featuring the search for Hardy’s killer at a website for unsolved murders. It’s asking anyone with information to contact investigators at 215-686-8477.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Philadelphia shooting kills NJ man, NFL Films employee