Woman killed in Germantown home invasion mourned

Standing in the living room of his childhood home yesterday, Damon Walton was surrounded by the family photographs his mother had displayed on almost every shelf, wall, and tabletop.

There were pictures of him as a boy. And there were pictures of another boy, too: his son, with his grandmother Ellen smiling beside him.

"He was her life," Walton said of his 6-year-old son. "She was always so happy when we came to visit, always just lit up. She was the greatest grandma to him."

Ellen Walton, 68, a former social worker, was found killed Monday afternoon in the Germantown home she had lived in for more than 30 years. She had been beaten savagely in an apparent home invasion.

Damon Walton, 29, of Harrisburg, said his mother's family and friends were still in shock. She gave much of her life to helping others, her son said, working with welfare recipients for the state until her retirement, then volunteering at her church in Germantown, and at a local food bank.

"She cared about everyone," Walton said. "She never hurt anybody. So to know that somebody could do this is heart-wrenching."

Services for Walton are tentatively set for Monday at her church, the New Covenant Church on Germantown Avenue.

Her nephew Aaron Lewis said he was haunted by thoughts of her last moments. "I just can't get it out of my mind that she suffered like that," he said.

Police yesterday asked the public for help in finding the people responsible for her death.

Authorities are not certain when Walton was killed. Philadelphia Capt. James Clark of the Homicide Unit said that it may have happened as long as a week ago and that neighbors on Walton's quiet street had not seen her for several days.

Sometime during the last week, Walton apparently returned to her house on the 6300 block of Magnolia Street, parked her car, and opened her back door to enter through the basement, as she usually did.

Police believe she turned the key in the lock, and was then forced inside by an unknown number of people, who beat her to death and ransacked her home. The intruders took two televisions, cash, and possibly some jewelry, and drove away in Walton's Toyota Rav 4, Clark said.

Early Monday, police received a 911 call about a car driving erratically near the 1300 block of East Yerkes Street in East Mount Airy. Police found the car abandoned, with two flat front tires, and traced the tag to Walton.

Meanwhile, someone who knew Walton went to her house to tell her that her car had been stolen. When a neighbor saw that person knocking on Walton's door, around 1 p.m., the neighbor called 911, thinking that a robbery might be taking place.

After arriving at Walton's house and finding her back door unlocked, police discovered her in a pool of blood in the basement. Police found a broken frying pan nearby that they believe was the weapon.

Neighbors described Walton as a friendly woman who mostly kept to herself and had a kind smile for everyone.

"I can't even talk about it," said Karen Bruce, a nurse who regularly makes home visits to a house on Walton's block. "It's very upsetting - a tragedy."

After Walton retired about five years ago, she stayed active, family members said. She was often awake at 6 a.m. to go to the gym, and spent time on her hobbies, which included community activities and sewing.

Lewis, Walton's nephew, said she often drove an hour and a half to Delaware, where he recently opened a day-care center. When not helping out there, she took her grandson and Lewis' children on trips to the zoo, amusement parks, or the Shore.

"She was beautiful with the kids," said Lewis, 43. "She was always giving motherly advice. She was like a mother to everyone."

Damon Walton said he hoped anyone who knows anything about his mother's death will tell the police.

"I wish I could tell the people who did this to turn themselves in and face it," he said. "Sooner or later, they're going to get caught anyway."

Anyone with information about Walton's death is being asked to call the police at 215-686-3334.