A mother of five was found dead inside her Mayfair home on Thursday night. Police reported that 25-year-old Lexus Jawanda Brice, of the 4100 block of Levick Street, was shot in the neck and killed.
Early indications seemed to suggest that Brice had been beaten to death. Now, investigators say she was shot in the neck.
Around 7 p.m. Thursday, police say the victim’s mother called 911 after she saw that the back door was kicked in at her daughter’s house.
“When she walked toward the door and saw the damage, she immediately did the right thing and called a burglary in progress, thinking somebody was in the house,” said Philadelphia Captain John Walker.
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When the officers came in, they found Brice’s body in a second-floor bedroom. The victim suffered blunt-force trauma to her head.
They believe it was a domestic incident and there was a struggle, but the motive remains unknown.
No weapon was found at the scene.
On Friday morning, police confirmed she had a gunshot wound to the right side of her neck.
“We’re just not sure what it’s over yet. We don’t have many problems in this area. It’s a pretty well-kept neighborhood; we don’t have many issues, so we think it was someone who knew who this person was at this point,” Cap. Walker said.
Police said Brice was a mother of five who worked for a bus company. She was fostering three of the kids and the two others were her biological children.
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Fortunately,the kids were with neighbors at the time of the incident, so they were not hurt.
Her two biological children are with their father, while the Department of Human Services is caring for the three foster kids.
No arrests have been made.