Chester woman wounded by stray bullet

For Kathy Stewart, Sunday had a familiar routine: first church, then a visit with her mother.

Even the gunfire that rang out early in the evening wasn't unusual, not in the William Penn Homes in Chester, a neighborhood where her mother had lived for decades.

But when Stewart, who was in bed chatting on a cell phone, suddenly stopped talking, her fiance on the other end of the line knew something was wrong.

Stewart, 49, remained in extremely critical condition yesterday evening, after a stray bullet had pierced the wall of a second-story bedroom and hit her in the head. The lifelong Chester resident was on life support, and family members said she was unlikely to recover.

Stewart, who worked on the production line at a manufacturing company in neighboring Chester Township, spent most of her evenings caring for her mother, who was diagnosed earlier this year with cervical cancer.

Dozens of family members gathered yesterday on the 300 block of Franklin Street, where the shooting occurred. Stewart's youngest daughter, Chantel, 15, was too upset to talk. Nearby, children played and women held each other, shaking their heads. Across the street, a redbrick building stood abandoned, wooden boards covering the smashed glass windows.

"This is a terrible place. This place is hard to live in," said Stewart's brother Tom, one of 11 siblings, who had recently moved back to Chester from North Carolina. "I'll never come down here in my life again. I'll never come back."

For Kathy Stewart's three children, the gun violence has a familiar ache: Their father, Andre Pittman, was gunned down 15 years ago by an unknown assailant who attacked while Pittman played dice near a playground, police said.

"It was hard enough to grow up with one parent," said Katisha Stewart, 28, Kathy Stewart's oldest daughter. "And to have her taken away, she doesn't deserve it. We don't deserve it."

Police are reviewing surveillance footage from cameras stationed at a nearby church, and believe they are looking for two gunmen. They don't believe Stewart or any of her family were targeted, Capt. Joseph Massi said. As of yesterday afternoon, police had no witnesses or suspects.

As family members braced themselves for the possibility of removing Stewart from life support, they remembered a woman who prayed fervently, cried easily, and spoiled her four grandchildren at every opportunity.

Katisha Stewart's two sons, 13 and 11, knew that they could call their grandmother when they wanted something. When Katisha told her mother to stop spoiling them, Stewart replied, "It's none of your business. They're my grandchildren."

Katisha also remembers her mother helping her get ready on her wedding day. Stewart, she said, couldn't help but cry, smearing her makeup.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Robert Whitaker at 610-447-8420 or the tip line at 610-447-7810.