By Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | Updated October 23, 2026
Montgomery police discovered three bodies in a mansion on Wild Azalea Lane in Skillman on Friday, October 2 at about 5:30 pm while performing a wellness check. The Somerset County Prosecutor's' Office later identified the bodies as Sloane Grodnick, 24, her mother Lora Grodnick, 62, in an apparent murder-suicide. The deceased male was positively identified as David Grodnick, 61, husband to Lora and father to Sloane. His cause of death was a gunshot wound of the head, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide.
An anonymous friend organized of a Go-Fund-Me page to raise money to plant a memorial tree in Sloane's honor.
Her friend writes:
"We are in complete disbelief that we were able to reach our goal in less than 24 hours. Thank you all. We will post updates as we get more information about the tree, the location, etc.
"We lost our friend, Sloane Grodnick, a few weeks ago to a senseless act of violence," according to the Go-Fund-Me site. "We knew Sloane through her pre-teen years and watched her grow up. 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. You could throw any date at her in the past 50 years and she would know which day of the week it fell on. She was silly, she was funny, and she deserved so much more."
"Sloane was killed on September 30. Absent a memorial, we hope to honor her life by planting a tree and in her memory accompanied by a plaque at Grounds for Sculpture."
"You could throw any date at her in the past 50 years and she would know which day of the week it fell on. She was silly, she was funny, and she deserved so much more." — An anonymous friend.
"Those of you who knew Sloane know she loved making art. She continued her passion through college at Savannah College of Art and Design and was close to earning her master’s from RISD at the time of her death. It is for this reason that we would like to honor Sloane within Grounds for Sculpture, where world-renowned sculptures, art installations, and beautiful gardens share the landscape. 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."
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The fundraiser has been paused, having reached its goal, with all funds going toward the purchase of a living legacy tree and personalized plaque.
"It means the world that we are going to be able to do this for Sloane," the organizer stated on the website.
