Friends of a 24-year-old New Jersey woman killed by her father in a murder-suicide inside the family’s mansion say she “deserved so much more.”
Prosecutors said Sloane Grodnick was shot and killed by her father, insurance executive David Grodnick, 61, inside their $1.7 million home in Montgomery Township on Oct. 2.
David Grodnick also killed his wife, Lora, 62, before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.
In the wake of the tragedy, Sloane’s friends launched a GoFundMe campaign to honor her life and help fund a permanent memorial.
“We knew Sloane through her pre-teen years and watched her grow up,” the friends 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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Sloane was passionate about art, a pursuit she continued while studying for a degree at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
According to the fundraiser, she was close to completing her master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design when she and her mother were killed.
The campaign has raised 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.”