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http://activedaily.readingeagle.com...MDEwMA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-customPublication:Reading Eagle; Date:Jan 15, 2007; Section:Front Page; Page Number:1
Slaying of mother staggers relatives
“Who’s going to be the one to explain to the 3-year-old that her mother is gone?†asks the brother of Audrey N. Giannotti, fatally shot in Laureldale.
©2007 Reading Eagle Company By Ron Devlin Reading Eagle Contact reporter Ron Devlin at 610-371-5030 or rdevlin@readingeagle.com.
Terry Giannotti Jr. grieved Sunday for his sister, 20-year-old Audrey N. Giannotti, who police said was shot and killed the day before in the bedroom of her basement apartment in Laureldale.
But as he stood in front of the house at 3203 Earl St. on Sunday night, Giannotti’s thoughts were with his sister’s children — 3-year-old and 11-month-old girls — who investigators said were sleeping a few feet away when their mother was shot in the back of the head early Saturday.
“Who’s going to be the one to explain to the 3-year-old that her mother is gone?†asked Giannotti, 17, a student at Reading High School.
Few details have been released about Audrey Giannotti’s death, which the Berks County coroner’s office Sunday ruled a homicide.
Deputy Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach said Giannotti died of a single gunshot wound to her head.
Laureldale Police Chief Ronald D. Fisher Jr. declined to provide details. He said detectives in the district attorney’s office also are investigating.
It was the first slaying in the borough in at least 15 years, police said earlier. Giannotti was the third person fatally shot this year in Berks.
Giannotti, a secretary at Ludgate Engineering in Exeter Township, lived with her children in the basement of the house owned by her uncle and aunt, Terry and Jaclyn Hollenbach, who live upstairs. They are not related to Jonn Hollenbach.
Family members said Giannotti and her boyfriend returned to the house from a birthday party in Reading on Saturday about 12:30 a.m.
Police did not release the boyfriend’s name.
Terry Hollenbach said he went back to sleep and, about 2:30, was awakened by his wife, who thought she smelled smoke. She asked him to investigate. He said he went to the basement, opened the door to Giannotti’s bedroom and found her lying in her bed. “I walked into her room, and there she was,†said Terry Hollenbach, choking back emotion. The couple said they heard no loud noises before the body was discovered. Terry Hollenbach said the front door of the house and a door to an enclosed porch were open. The Hollenbachs and the children are staying with relatives. The couple had not been in the house again until Sunday night, when they returned to get clothes, food and the children’s toys. Jaclyn Hollenbach doubts she will return to her home again. “How can I live in the house where my niece was murdered?†she said. She said the 3-year-old is asking for her mother. “She wants to see her mommy,†Jaclyn Hollenbach said. “She’s only 3 and she doesn’t understand.†In tears, Jaclyn Hollenbach shouted: “I don’t feel safe having the kids and not knowing what happened. I need closure. I need to know why.†Audrey Giannotti’s mother, Jennifer, wept as she asked how the family would get through the coming days. She said her daughter was outgoing, funny and a hard worker who wanted to get ahead. “My daughter was a great mom,†said Giannotti of Reading. “She’d do anything for her children.†Giannotti said her husband, Terry Sr., died in 1998. Audrey, 11 years old at the time, took it hard, her mother said. Whitney Jeter, a cousin of Audrey, said Audrey talked of marriage when she last saw her a few months ago. “She said, ‘Are you coming to my wedding?’ †recalled Jeter of Muhlenberg Township. “I can’t believe it. I feel so bad for her.â€
Audrey N Giannotti
http://www.yearsoftears.org/audreygiannotti.html
