Evelyn Player filled her days volunteering at Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore, arriving early to greet worshipers and staying late to help the choir rehearse.
The 69-year-old retiree was at it again Tuesday morning, arriving just after sunrise to let in construction workers, not long before she was found stabbed to death in a church bathroom, police said.
“Who would want to hurt my mother?” asked Alethea Finch, crying on the porch of the East Baltimore home she shared with her mother. “How could someone hurt someone in such a sacred place? … My heart’s broken into a million pieces. I don’t understand why this happened.”
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said at a news conference the longtime church volunteer was found dead in the bathroom after being attacked. Finch identified the victim as her mother, a devoted member of Southern Baptist and retired office worker at the medical publishing company Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
