Source: Strawberry Mansion woman slain for helping drug probe

A Strawberry Mansion woman gunned down in front of her daughter was targeted for her role in a drug investigation, a law-enforcement source said tonight.

Kathryn Berry, 42, was slain late Saturday on Morse Street near 32nd in Strawberry Mansion, police said.

Berry was out walking about a block from her house when an unidentified man pointed a gun at her and started blasting, police said.

She was struck in her head and thigh and taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where she died early Sunday morning. Berry's daughter, who was with her during the incident, was not harmed, and told police that she didn't recognize the shooter.

No information on a motive was available last night, but a law-enforcement source said Berry was cooperating with investigators in a narcotics investigation. Her attacker may have sought her out as a means of silencing her, the source said.

According to court records, Berry was indicted in June 2013 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly helping to distribute Oxycodone, a prescription painkiller, through forged prescriptions at pharmacies in Old City and South Philly.

Police said the shooter was a black man in his 40s, about 6 feet tall with a heavy build and a gray-and-black beard.

He wore a black, hooded sweatshirt and used a silver handgun, police said.