Kelli Eileen Curran, 51, was killed in her Spartanburg, South Carolina home on October 25, 2020. A native of New Jersey who had moved to the Carolinas to be near her mother, she worked as a Mental Health Technician at Mission Hospital in Asheville and was described as devoted to animals and to the wellbeing of others.

That morning two young men knocked asking for help with car trouble. Kelli and a friend, Timothy Thompson, let them inside. While Thompson searched for information on his phone, one of the men produced a gun. Both Kelli and Thompson were shot multiple times. Kelli managed a whispered call to 911 giving her location and a description before she was taken to Spartanburg Medical Regional Center, where she died that morning; Thompson later died from his wounds.

Investigators say the intruders’ motive was to steal firearms and that three men were arrested and charged in the case. One defendant pleaded guilty and another was convicted; a third defendant was awaiting trial as of the last dated update.