We’re learning more about the last moments leading up to the stabbing death of Evelyn Player, the 69-year-old grandmother found dead inside her east Baltimore church two weeks ago.
Charging documents obtained by FOX45 News reveal Ms. Player fought for her life in a struggle that helped catch a suspected killer.
The documents reveal an autopsy showed Ms. Player had multiple defense wounds to her left and right hand. Those circumstances, investigators say, provided DNA evidence that led them to 62-year-old Manzie Smith Jr., who faces several charges, including first-degree murder.
Rana Dellarocco is Director of the Baltimore Police Department’s Forensic Laboratories. Dellarocco is not talking about Ms. Player’s case specifically, but speaks in general about the concept of contact and transfer, and if a struggle between a victim and suspect can create a greater opportunity for the collection of forensic evidence.
"It’s not something that you can really say every time there’s a struggle you’re going to have a lot of DNA there. But if you can, scratching someone is definitely going to get DNA under their fingernails. If you’re lucky enough to land a good punch and the person bleeds on you, then that’s going to give DNA from that suspect that’s going to get on you,” said Dellarocco.
News of Ms. Player’s determined fight comes on a week when the city continues to grapple with the ongoing violence, including the shooting of a man killed Thursday on Reisterstown Road near Ulman Avenue.
And in Hampden, there was a shootout between drivers speeding down Elm Avenue that was caught on a home surveillance camera Sunday night.
Still, there’s some progress, with the arrest of a suspect in Ms. Player’s case.
But the parents of 13-year-old Maliyah Turner, who was shot and killed outside a Baltimore recreation center two weeks ago, continue to plea for the public’s help in finding their daughter’s killer.
“They would feel the same way if the shoe was on the other feet. So, take your shoes off and put mine on,” said Michelle Smith, Maliya’s mother.