Hit by stray gunfire, Frankford woman hunkers down

The shots rang out when Terry Williams was sound asleep in her home on the 5300 block of Charles Street in Frankford. She awoke in a panic, felt searing pain on the side of her head, and noticed bloodstains on her sheets.

A stray discharge from a shotgun had blasted through the side of her home just before 2 a.m. Friday, striking her as she slept. The pellets tore through a dresser in her bedroom and passed through the mattress before striking Williams, 61.

"I had heard a noise outside, and when I looked out the window to check, all I saw was a nice car parked with very nicely dressed men gathered around," said Bonnie Fenster, a friend who was visiting Williams for a few days. "I turned around and then . . . BAM! The curtains were flying and debris covered me as I heard Terry scream."

Fenster saw Williams covering the side of her head with a bloody hand. Her son immediately called police.

"I didn't even want to look at her," Fenster said. "I was too afraid of how bad she might be hurt."

Sgt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives said Williams was fortunate.

"Luckily for the victim, the shot slowed down enough from going through so much," he said. "She's a 61-year-old woman - we're not expecting that she was the intended target at this time."

Williams was treated at Hahnemann University Hospital and released, leaving with only a small bandage on the side of her head as a reminder of her ordeal.

"I just hope that the shooters don't come back here," she said, "and I'll remain thankful to still be here today."

Her neighborhood in Frankford is in decline; abandoned rowhouses that draw squatters are common on Charles Street. Her three sons have urged her to move, but property values have dropped and she is not willing to sell.

"I bought this house from my grandparents when the neighborhood was still good. Now look at it," said Williams, who has lived in Frankford virtually her entire life. "I've been wanting to leave here for years now, but with the economy the way it is, I would get less for this house than what I paid for it. I'm 61 years old. What am I supposed to do?"

Williams, who left a job in building maintenance because of her health, said she had few choices. "A nursing home is my only other option, but I can't afford that right now," she said.

And yet even with the risks, she said, walking away from Frankford is hard.

"I grew up here. This is my block and has been my neighborhood for as long as I can remember," she said.