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.”
The Rev. Donte L. Hickman, pastor of the 4,000-member Southern Baptist Church, said Player is the fourth or fifth generation of her family to attend the church, and that she has done so for more than 50 years. She would bring her daughter and grandson with her to services.
Hickman said he was dropping his son off at school when he got the call about her killing. He raced to comfort the family and find out what happened.
“It’s just unthinkable,” he said. “We pray that whoever the culprit is, is brought to justice. But we want them to know that our work and mission will continue.”
In addition to serving as church sexton, Player sang in the choir, dished up meals and helped in the church’s COVID vaccine and testing clinics, Hickman said. She had a reputation for keeping order in the church, so much so that congregants nicknamed her “The Sheriff.”
Read Full Article here: