Four teens were taken into custody Wednesday in connection to the stabbing death of the 64-year-old mother of a Philadelphia police officer.
The four were detained after they crashed a black Nissan Rogue near the intersection of 43rd and Sansom streets in West Philadelphia around 10:30 a.m. The vehicle had been taken from the East Germantown home where the murder happened just a few hours earlier.
Police initially said the woman was 65 years old.
One of the teens, the woman's 17-year-old foster son, was considered a person of interest. Later in the day, police linked him to two missing people from Philadelphia.
Officers responded to the house on the 300 block of Mechanic Street shortly before 1:30 a.m. Wednesday after reports of a person screaming, police said.
There, a family member found the 64-year-old Renee Gilyard in her bathtub, according to police. She had two stab wounds to the left side of her neck and defensive wounds, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said.
Gilyard was the mother of a Philadelphia police officer, according to authorities.
There were no signs of a break-in, but the contents of Gilyard's purse were dumped on a bed. Detectives revealed that the woman’s car was missing and that the murder may have been committed by someone she knew.
Also missing was the 17-year-old boy, whom the woman had started fostering only three days earlier, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said.
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The woman was known to foster children, but it was unclear whether any others were inside the home at the time of the slaying.
“Renee is one of the best people you could ever know. She would feed them clothe them, take them to school – everything. She was just a wonderful person," said Veronica Jackson as she remembered her friend.
