Even by her family's account, Danyelle Thompson was a bit of a neighborhood nuisance.
The 41-year-old North Philadelphia woman had battled drug and alcohol addiction since her teenage years. So Christina Johnson wasn't surprised to see Thompson, her uncle's cousin, stagger down her Strawberry Mansion street, yelling and high, just after midnight yesterday.
But Johnson couldn't fathom the horror that would come next.
Thompson approached a brick rowhouse on Stillman Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue, where a friend lived, and pounded on the door. She argued loudly with someone and then went inside.
Within minutes, Thompson lay bleeding to death after a woman inside attacked from behind and bludgeoned her repeatedly with a hammer, police said.
Thompson died at 1:08 a.m. at Hahnemann University Hospital., police said.
Gloria Holmes, 51, was charged with murder in Thompson's slaying. Holmes lived at the Stillman Street rowhouse where the fatal encounter occurred.
"Whatever she did, she was still family," said Thompson's cousin Loretta Lee, 48, of Kensington, who was among a dozen or so relatives who gathered outside the crime scene yesterday to mourn Thompson, a mother of five.
The relatives said Holmes' house was well-known on the block as a speakeasy and crack house where drugs could be bought or taken.
"You hear knocking on that door 24 hours a day," said Darnell Lee, 50, Thompson's cousin, who lives across the street from Holmes' property.
Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this report.
Troll said
7:05 PM, 03/28/10
Cops: Officer stabbed; kills attacker
A city police officer fatally shot a man who stabbed him in Southwest Philadelphia last night, a police spokesman said.
The violent encounter started about 8:30 p.m. on Paschall Avenue near 72nd Street, where police were maintaining a presence because of a recent spate of burglaries.
A 30-year-old officer tried to stop a man who was acting suspiciously, but the man took off running, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The officer, a 10-year veteran, followed on foot, and the chase wound through wooded sections of nearby Cobbs Creek Park.
Vanore said the man stopped abruptly at Cobbs Creek Parkway and Greenway Avenue and began slicing at the cop's vest and elbows with a knife.
"The officer fights him off and discharges his weapon numerous times," Vanore said.
The attacker was shot several times and died at the scene shortly after 9 p.m.
Vanore said the officer, whose name wasn't released, was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for minor injuries.
- David Gambacorta
Snippy said
7:06 PM, 03/28/10
Hammered Woman Dies
Troll said
7:07 PM, 03/28/10
Briefly... CITY/REGION
Shooting kills 1, wounds 1
Police are seeking suspects in a double shooting in Kensington early yesterday that left a man dead and a teenager seriously injured. Gunfire erupted 1 a.m. at B and Stella streets, police said. The man, who was not identified, died at Temple University Hospital after being shot in the chest and abdomen, police said. A 15-year-old boy was in critical condition at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children with a gunshot wound to the jaw.
Crime in the city this weekend included two homicides, a hit-and-run death and a drunk-driving crash off of I-95 that the driver miraculously survived, according to police.
* About 1:10 a.m. yesterday, Loretta Neff, 35, was driving in the left lane of I-95 north, about a quarter-mile south of Cottman Avenue, when she lost control of her car and it traveled across all lanes of the highway and off the right shoulder, state police said.
The vehicle then smashed through the guardrail, a streetlamp and several street signs before rolling about 70 feet down an embankment, where it finally stopped in the middle of the intersection of State Road, New State Road and Milnor Street, police said.
Incredibly, Neff, of Philadelphia, had only minor injuries and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital. There she was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence, according to police.
* About 7:40 p.m. Saturday a hit-and-run driver struck a 38-year-old woman who was crossing Lambert Street near Norris in North Philadelphia, city police said.
The woman was dragged an unknown distance by the vehicle, a gray or white Ford Crown Victory or Mercury Marquis, before she was left for dead in the street by its unidentified driver.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, died at Temple University Hospital of head and abdominal trauma at 8:06 p.m., police said.
* At 2:45 a.m. Saturday, Bruce Fox, 29, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his back at Dicks Avenue near 70th Street, Southwest Philadelphia, police said.
Fox was found lying half inside the driver's side of a 2007 Chevy Malibu which was running, with its headlights on, police said.
The back window was shot out, a bullet was found on the floor and nine 9 mm casings littered the scene, police said.
Fox, of Uber Street near 66th Avenue, was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 3:24 a.m.
* At 8:48 p.m. Friday, police said they found Saran Ngoy, 26, with a gunshot wound to his stomach on the living room floor of a home on Wolf Street near Marshall in South Philadelphia.
Ngoy, of Ritner Street near Beulah in South Philadelphia, was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10 p.m., police said.
Troll said
8:28 AM, 03/29/10
busy weekend.
Homicide Statistics March 29, 2010 As of 11:59 PM Previous Day
2010
068
2009
066
2007
096
- 29.17% : 2007-2010
Homicides in Last 72 Hours: 5
Uke said
9:19 AM, 03/29/10
Federal 'bailout' funds finally reach Philadelphia! Many hardcore prison inmates are freed, and hit the streets with one thought: Revenge!
Look for a spike in the numbers over the next three, four weeks as the bloodletting begins!
Troll said
7:23 AM, 03/30/10
Briefly... CITY/REGION
Olney rape victim dies
A woman who was savagely beaten and raped behind an Olney sandwich shop last week died yesterday. Police said the 47-year-old victim, whose name was not released, died about 9 a.m. at Albert Einstein Medical Center. The exact cause of death wasn't immediately known. Employees of the Olney Steak and Beer Deli, at Broad Street and Olney Avenue, spotted the rapist pummeling his naked victim behind the shop last Wednesday. The attacker, a heavyset black man in his 20s who wore a black Aeropostale sweater, fled on foot. Tipsters can contact homicide detectives at 215-686-3334 or -3335.
2 shot in separate incidents
Two men were shot in separate incidents in the city last night, police said. About 8:30 p.m., a 20-year-old man was wounded once in the groin on Mayland Street near Morton in East Germantown. Police said he was admitted to Albert Einstein Medical Center in critical condition.
About 9:10 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot once in the right hand at Emerald and Madison streets in Kensington, police said. He was admitted to Temple University Hospital in stable condition. No arrests were made in either case.
Man shot dead in N. Phila.
A 35-year-old man was shot to death Sunday night while in the driver's seat of an Oldsmobile Alero parked on 23rd Street near Jefferson, in North Philadelphia.
The man, whom police did not identify, was shot once in his head and once in his left side, police said.
Uke said
8:19 AM, 03/30/10
Oh yeah! Philly's on the upswing as spring sets in. Uke suspects his estimated numbers may pale in comparison to the reality as summer approaches, and bodies appear everywhere.
Some shot several times, others stabbed ta death, and a few beaten, or died by 'blunt force' trauma.
Uke opines it may be the water, or something IN the water!
Troll said
11:06 AM, 04/01/10
Posted on Thu, Apr. 1, 2010
Briefly... CITY/REGION
Killer sought in stabbing
Police are seeking suspects in the Tuesday night stabbing death of Samuel Lee Oglesby, 52, of Dewey Street near Harley Avenue, Southwest Philadelphia. He was stabbed in the upper back shortly after 10 p.m. on Walnut Street near 55th, in West Philadelphia, police said. Medics declared him dead on the scene at 10:30 p.m.
Troll said
11:07 AM, 04/01/10
Homicide Statistics April 1, 2010 As of 11:59 PM Previous Day
Suppose to be 80F by the ned of next week.....gasses will build up and you know the old saying....."Bodies that bloat.....float"
Woman bludgeoned to death with hammer
By DANA DiFILIPPO
Philadelphia Daily News
difilid@phillynews.com 215-854-5934
The 41-year-old North Philadelphia woman had battled drug and alcohol addiction since her teenage years. So Christina Johnson wasn't surprised to see Thompson, her uncle's cousin, stagger down her Strawberry Mansion street, yelling and high, just after midnight yesterday.
But Johnson couldn't fathom the horror that would come next.
Thompson approached a brick rowhouse on Stillman Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue, where a friend lived, and pounded on the door. She argued loudly with someone and then went inside.
Within minutes, Thompson lay bleeding to death after a woman inside attacked from behind and bludgeoned her repeatedly with a hammer, police said.
Thompson died at 1:08 a.m. at Hahnemann University Hospital., police said.
Gloria Holmes, 51, was charged with murder in Thompson's slaying. Holmes lived at the Stillman Street rowhouse where the fatal encounter occurred.
"Whatever she did, she was still family," said Thompson's cousin Loretta Lee, 48, of Kensington, who was among a dozen or so relatives who gathered outside the crime scene yesterday to mourn Thompson, a mother of five.
The relatives said Holmes' house was well-known on the block as a speakeasy and crack house where drugs could be bought or taken.
"You hear knocking on that door 24 hours a day," said Darnell Lee, 50, Thompson's cousin, who lives across the street from Holmes' property.
Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this report.
Cops: Officer stabbed; kills attacker
A city police officer fatally shot a man who stabbed him in Southwest Philadelphia last night, a police spokesman said.
The violent encounter started about 8:30 p.m. on Paschall Avenue near 72nd Street, where police were maintaining a presence because of a recent spate of burglaries.
A 30-year-old officer tried to stop a man who was acting suspiciously, but the man took off running, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The officer, a 10-year veteran, followed on foot, and the chase wound through wooded sections of nearby Cobbs Creek Park.
Vanore said the man stopped abruptly at Cobbs Creek Parkway and Greenway Avenue and began slicing at the cop's vest and elbows with a knife.
"The officer fights him off and discharges his weapon numerous times," Vanore said.
The attacker was shot several times and died at the scene shortly after 9 p.m.
Vanore said the officer, whose name wasn't released, was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for minor injuries.
- David Gambacorta
Briefly... CITY/REGION
Police are seeking suspects in a double shooting in Kensington early yesterday that left a man dead and a teenager seriously injured. Gunfire erupted 1 a.m. at B and Stella streets, police said. The man, who was not identified, died at Temple University Hospital after being shot in the chest and abdomen, police said. A 15-year-old boy was in critical condition at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children with a gunshot wound to the jaw.
2 slayings, hit-run fatal mark weekend violence
By STEPHANIE FARR
Philadelphia Daily News
farrs@phillynews.com 215-854-4225
Crime in the city this weekend included two homicides, a hit-and-run death and a drunk-driving crash off of I-95 that the driver miraculously survived, according to police.
* About 1:10 a.m. yesterday, Loretta Neff, 35, was driving in the left lane of I-95 north, about a quarter-mile south of Cottman Avenue, when she lost control of her car and it traveled across all lanes of the highway and off the right shoulder, state police said.
The vehicle then smashed through the guardrail, a streetlamp and several street signs before rolling about 70 feet down an embankment, where it finally stopped in the middle of the intersection of State Road, New State Road and Milnor Street, police said.
Incredibly, Neff, of Philadelphia, had only minor injuries and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital. There she was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence, according to police.
* About 7:40 p.m. Saturday a hit-and-run driver struck a 38-year-old woman who was crossing Lambert Street near Norris in North Philadelphia, city police said.
The woman was dragged an unknown distance by the vehicle, a gray or white Ford Crown Victory or Mercury Marquis, before she was left for dead in the street by its unidentified driver.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, died at Temple University Hospital of head and abdominal trauma at 8:06 p.m., police said.
* At 2:45 a.m. Saturday, Bruce Fox, 29, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his back at Dicks Avenue near 70th Street, Southwest Philadelphia, police said.
Fox was found lying half inside the driver's side of a 2007 Chevy Malibu which was running, with its headlights on, police said.
The back window was shot out, a bullet was found on the floor and nine 9 mm casings littered the scene, police said.
Fox, of Uber Street near 66th Avenue, was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 3:24 a.m.
* At 8:48 p.m. Friday, police said they found Saran Ngoy, 26, with a gunshot wound to his stomach on the living room floor of a home on Wolf Street near Marshall in South Philadelphia.
Ngoy, of Ritner Street near Beulah in South Philadelphia, was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10 p.m., police said.
Homicide Statistics
March 29, 2010
As of 11:59 PM Previous Day
2010
2009
2007
Homicides in
Last 72 Hours: 5
Briefly... CITY/REGION
A woman who was savagely beaten and raped behind an Olney sandwich shop last week died yesterday. Police said the 47-year-old victim, whose name was not released, died about 9 a.m. at Albert Einstein Medical Center. The exact cause of death wasn't immediately known. Employees of the Olney Steak and Beer Deli, at Broad Street and Olney Avenue, spotted the rapist pummeling his naked victim behind the shop last Wednesday. The attacker, a heavyset black man in his 20s who wore a black Aeropostale sweater, fled on foot. Tipsters can contact homicide detectives at 215-686-3334 or -3335.
2 shot in separate incidents
Two men were shot in separate incidents in the city last night, police said. About 8:30 p.m., a 20-year-old man was wounded once in the groin on Mayland Street near Morton in East Germantown. Police said he was admitted to Albert Einstein Medical Center in critical condition.
About 9:10 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot once in the right hand at Emerald and Madison streets in Kensington, police said. He was admitted to Temple University Hospital in stable condition. No arrests were made in either case.
Man shot dead in N. Phila.
A 35-year-old man was shot to death Sunday night while in the driver's seat of an Oldsmobile Alero parked on 23rd Street near Jefferson, in North Philadelphia.
The man, whom police did not identify, was shot once in his head and once in his left side, police said.
Briefly... CITY/REGION
Killer sought in stabbing
Police are seeking suspects in the Tuesday night stabbing death of Samuel Lee Oglesby, 52, of Dewey Street near Harley Avenue, Southwest Philadelphia. He was stabbed in the upper back shortly after 10 p.m. on Walnut Street near 55th, in West Philadelphia, police said. Medics declared him dead on the scene at 10:30 p.m.
April 1, 2010
As of 11:59 PM Previous Day
2010
2009
2007
Homicides in
Last 24 Hours: 1