The tragic murder of an 80-year-old woman has police in search of answers and a family in a state of mourning.
On Sep. 7, Rose Goodman was fatally shot shortly before 10 PM while inside her Southwest Philadelphia home, police say.
According to the victim’s family, she was a vibrant mother, grandmother, active member of her church and the matriarch of her family and neighborhood.
“She loved the children of the community as much as she loved us,” her son Devin Goodman told 6 ABC.
Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Hamilton Marshmond spoke at a news conference Friday, stating that her death was needless and society must now come to the fore to deride these useless acts of violence.
“When an 80-year-old woman –who did nothing but love her family friends and the community her entire life — is brutally murdered in her home, we as a society cannot and should not accept this,” he said.
According to investigators, the suspect was able to enter her home on the 5700 block of Broomall Street by jumping through her basement window.
Once inside, the suspect shot her in the chest. She would eventually succumb to the gunshot wound.
Family members called police requesting that they do a welfare check on Goodman. According to her son, he had talked to his mother earlier that day.
“We’d call to check up on her and she would always ask back, ‘How are you doing? How are the kids? How’s everybody?'” he said.
He added that he instantly knew something was wrong when she stopped answering his calls that evening.
At the time of this writing, no arrests have been made. Police say nothing was taken from Goodman’s home at the time of the murder.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Marshmond says he will stop at nothing until the assailant is captured and brought to justice.
“I want the coward who took Miss Rose Goodman away from her family and friends to know your life will never be the same,” he said. “You will never have a good night’s sleep. You will look over your shoulder constantly because you will not know when the day will come when we will be outside your home.”
Since Goodman’s passing, her son says he has stopped by her home every day for the last week to lay flowers on her lawn. He says he hopes her legacy will live for generations to come.
“It takes a village, like they say, and that’s what this was,” he said. “My mom was proud to be part of that.”
Please call 215-686-TIPS if you or someone you know has any information leading to an arrest.
