On Friday afternoon, a group of women showed up to share their love and pay their respects outside Janet Swallow’s home.
They hugged, cried, smiled, and were joined by several neighbors.
From Florida, close family friend Stephen Bardell said Swallow served as a second mother to him when going through tough times as a teen.
“I cried this morning,” Bardell said. “It was really hard for me because I have such fond memories of her. I really do.”
Bardell said it’s hard to fathom how Swallow may have been killed by a troubled teen when he’s seen her help so many.
“Part of the biggest problem that I have is that she was so good with kids that to have it be the perpetrator of this crime for whatever reason was,” Bardell said. “It’s just, yeah.”
Neighbors are also trying to make sense of what investigators are calling a random act of violence so close to home.
“It’s kind of crazy happening in this neighborhood. You know, I’ve been here my whole life and we’ve never had anything like this.”
“Obviously you think that could have been us too,” Jessica Mandri said. “Anyone in the neighborhood. Yeah, it’s just horrible.”
“It could have been our house,” Laura Clarizia said. “You know, like, it seems like there was no rhyme or reason to it.”
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