Friends recall beloved barmaid slain Wednesday

Rachel Marcelis had a smile for everybody.

The 22-year-old barmaid at Fat Pete's, a corner bar in Wissinoming, had a rare gift.

"She made everyone who walked in feel instantly welcome in a neighborhood that is not always so welcoming," said pub owner Dennis Gannon.

On Tuesday, her night off, Marcelis dropped in at the bar at Torresdale and Devereaux Avenues to say hello to friends. She had just had her hair done up in a bun and wanted to show it off.

As she left just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, a man in a red Mustang pulled up and called her over. She got into the car.

Her friends heard a loud pop.

"It sounded like a firecracker," said Raymond Carnation, 40, her friend and a former Philadelphia police officer.

Marcelis opened the door and fell out of the car.

Carnation rushed to her side.

"I hoped it was only a wound to her shoulder," he said.

Rolling her onto her back, Carnation saw the large stain of blood bloom on her chest.

He tried to revive her with CPR. But her eyes were lifeless.

"She died as soon as she opened the door," Carnation said. "She didn't struggle. She just passed on."

Police on Thursday charged bar patron Michael Elliott, 25, with murder, illegal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment. Elliott surrendered to police on Wednesday.

Elliott had been at the bar earlier in the evening and returned to show Marcelis a gun, said Jim Stokes.

Stokes, 33, said Elliott was known for his gold teeth, a top "grill" that he would take out of his mouth when he drank. "He thought he was a gangster."

How Marcelis came to be shot remained a mystery Thursday. Friends of the dead woman said they believed it was accidental, that Elliott pulled the trigger believing the gun was unloaded.

Grief-stricken co-workers and family gathered Thursday afternoon on Devereaux to remember the aspiring teacher and tend to a growing memorial of flowers, teddy bears and votive candles.

Dozens of photographs taped above the bouquets and flickering lights showed Marcelis mugging for the camera, blowing kisses, flashing her brilliant smile.

Friend Chrissy Byrnes, 38, said Marcelis graduated from Community College of Philadelphia in December and planned to open a day-care center later this year. She was hired at Fat Pete's just before New Year's Eve.

"This job was just to pay off the student loans," Byrnes said.

Her first day behind the bar was nearly a disaster, said coworker Melissa Martin, 29.

"She couldn't figure out how to pour the liquor right," Martin said. But Marcelis was a quick study. In a matter of weeks, she became a commanding presence.

"She was the one who kept the peace," Stokes said. Arguments would get overheated, and Marcelis would lay down the law.

"'That's enough,' she'd say. 'Now sit down and have a drink,' " Stokes said.

Marcelis "flew by the seat of her pants," said friend Leslie Moore, 29, and kept a spare change of clothes and makeup kit in her black Chrysler Sebring just in case the spirit moved her to take a sudden road trip.

Last week, friends surprised to find out Marcelis was headed to North Carolina for a few days.

On Thursday, the Sebring remained parked on Devereaux, several blocks from the house where she lived with her parents.

A fund-raiser for Marcelis' family will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday on the block where she died, Byrnes said.