Briefly... CITY/REGION

Brutal heat claims 4 lives

The ongoing excessive heat claimed the lives of two Philadelphia residents and two in Delaware County last week.

Officials said a 90-year-old woman was found dead in her South Philadelphia home Saturday. Jeff Moran, Health Department spokesman, said the woman had used a fan with her windows shut, which can increase dehydration.

A 56-year-old Northeast man who was treated at a hospital for hyperthermia Saturday was pronounced dead a short time later.

Arthur Perry, 81, of Havertown, was pronounced dead in his Delmont Avenue home about 11:25 a.m. Tuesday of a combination of heart disease and hyperthermia.

In Chester, 61-year-old F. Wehrfritz, who was also known as Frank William, was pronounced dead in his 19th Street home at 1:42 p.m. Thursday. He died from post- traumatic seizure disorder brought about by hyperthermia, the medical examiner said.

2 die in motorcycle crashes

A man from Washington, D.C., and one from Clifton Heights died in motorcycle accidents this weekend.

Corey Miller, 40, of Washington, was driving his 2005 Kawaski on Martin Luther King Drive near Sweet Briar Road in Fairmount Park about 1:15 a.m. Saturday when he lost control and hit a guardrail, throwing him off the bike. Miller, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at 1:43 a.m. at Hahnemann University Hospital.

On Friday, about 7:30 p.m. at MacDade Boulevard and Gardner Avenue in Glenolden, Daniel Pavlioglo, 26, of Clifton Heights, hit an SUV while riding his 2008 Honda. Pavlioglo, who was also not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene.

2 slain in weekend gunfire

A young man and a young woman were killed in separate shootings this weekend.

Janene Thomas, 22, of Philadelphia, died at Aria Hospital's Torresdale campus about 5:30 p.m. Saturday after being shot three times in the stomach at Penn and Womrath streets, Frankford, at 4 p.m.

At 7:03 p.m., a 19-year-old man whose identity had not been released pending family notification was shot in the back and the face on Edgewood Street near Vine, West Philadelphia. He was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 7:30 p.m.

Woman found dead at home

A 66-year-old woman was found dead at the bottom of her basement steps inside of her Weikel Street home in Kensington last night, police said. Officials could not determine the cause of death, but suspect that her death could have been the result of a home invasion that turned violent.

Man shot, in critical condition

A 30-year-old man who was shot once in the buttocks yesterday in Northern Liberties remained in critical condition at Hahnemann University Hospital, police said. The shooting took place about 12:40 a.m. at 3rd and Brown streets.

- Staff and wire reports