Friends mourning a 24-year-old woman killed by her father in a murder-suicide at their New Jersey home say she “deserved so much more.”
Prosecutors say Sloane Grodnick was fatally shot by her father, insurance executive David Grodnick, 61, inside their $1.7 million Montgomery Township residence on Oct. 2.
David also killed his wife, 62-year-old Lora Grodnick, before taking his own life, authorities said.
In the wake of the tragedy, Sloane’s friends launched a GoFundMe campaign to honor her life and help create a lasting memorial.
“We knew Sloane through her pre-teen years and watched her grow up,” they wrote. “We spent countless days swimming, coloring, listening to music, and talking about everything happening in each of our lives, from the mundane to the exciting.
“She was silly, she was funny, and she deserved so much more.”
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The friends said Sloane was passionate about art, a love she pursued while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
According to the fundraiser, she was nearing completion of her master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design when she and her mother were killed.
The fundraiser has collected more than $3,500 to plant a tree and install a plaque in Sloane’s memory at Grounds for Sculpture, a 42-acre nonprofit sculpture park, museum and arboretum in Hamilton.
“[W]e would like to honor Sloane within Grounds for Sculpture, where world-renowned sculptures, art installations, and beautiful gardens share the landscape,” her friends wrote.
“This way, her memory will be surrounded by what she loved most, and those that loved her will have a place to visit and keep her memory alive.”
