Heartbreaking final tribute to 24-year-old daughter killed by her own father in $1.7M family mansion murder-suicide
Grieving friends of a 24-year-old woman killed in a ‘senseless act of violence’ penned a heartbreaking tribute, after she was found dead alongside her parents in their $1.7million mansion.
Sloane Grodnick and her parents, David, 61, and Lora, 62, were discovered with gunshot wounds to the head inside their New Jersey home on October 2.
Sloane and her mother were found in different bedrooms. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said their causes of death were gunshot wounds to the head and ruled the manner a homicide.
David also died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner was ruled a suicide. The grim discovery came just a day after cops attempted to enter their home for a wellness check.
The shocking case has rocked the affluent, suburban community, but in the wake of Sloane’s tragic death, her friends rallied together to fund a memorial for her.
They launched a GoFundMe for a living legacy tree and a personalized plaque, which reached its $3,500 goal in 24 hours.
‘We knew Sloane through her pre-teen years and watched her grow up. We spent countless days swimming, coloring, listening to music, and talking about everything happening in each of our lives, from the mundane to the exciting,’ her friends wrote in a tribute to her alongside the fundraiser.
‘You could throw any date at her in the past 50 years and she would know which day of the week it fell on. She was silly, she was funny, and she deserved so much more.’
Sloane Grodnick, 24, was found dead in what police believe is a murder-suicide perpetrated by her father. Her friends called her death a ‘senseless act of violence’
Police believe that David Grodnick, pictured above, murdered his wife and daughter before turning the weapon on himself. Picture source: VCSO/Sloane Grodnick
Police started investigating after failing to make contact with the family. Sloane is pictured with her father above. Picture source: VCSO/Sloane Grodnick
Her friends said Sloane loved art and was working towards a master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design. She also studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Because of her love of art, her friends are planning to place her memorial in Grounds for Sculpture, a park in New Jersey that showcases sculptures, art installations and manicured gardens.
‘This way, her memory will be surrounded by what she loved most, and those that loved her will have a place to visit and keep her memory alive,’ her friends concluded.
Donations poured in quickly, and Sloane’s friends reached their goal within a day. They wrote in an update on the fundraiser that they were in ‘complete disbelief’ of the results.
Her friends added that it ‘meant the world’ to honor Sloane and that they would continue to share updates on the tree dedication.
The fundraiser noted that Sloane was killed on September 30 in a ‘senseless act of violence.’ Prosecutors have not confirmed when Sloane and her family died.
The family’s neighbor, Mian Helaly, 73, told the New York Post after the tragedy that he suspected something was wrong after the family failed to keep on top of their landscaping.
Helaly told the outlet: ‘I thought the house was number one in the [neighborhood for] maintaining their lawn.
Lora and Sloane are seen here with rockstar Rod Stewart. Picture source: VCSO/Sloane Grodnick
Officers found the two women in separate bedrooms, Grodnick was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Picture source: VCSO/Sloane Grodnick
‘I think a couple of months or more they were not maintaining it. It was very unusual. It disturbed me.’
Helaly believed the Grodnicks spent a small fortune on new trees and yard maintenance, saying David and Lora worked on it together.
‘All of a sudden, I noticed that in recent months they were not focusing on the lawn. The grass was ground out. They were not trimming the trees’, he added.
Helaly told the outlet that the overgrown lawn was a sign to him that ‘something was not right’ and ‘not going their way.’
He described the triple killing as ‘very, very shocking,’ adding: ‘You would never believe a terrible thing like this would happen.’
Grodnick worked as a senior vice president at Land Services USA, an insurance agency, starting in May 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The family’s home in Grodnick, New Jersey is pictured
He also spent 20 years at another insurance agency, First American Title, where he served in multiple vice president roles and eventually rose to director of the North Atlantic Region of National Commercial Services.
He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Miami and a BA in English from McDaniel College.
The family had moved from Princeton to Montgomery Township and were members of the exclusive Bedens Brook Country Club in Skillman, according to Montgomery News.
The investigation into the murder-suicide is ongoing. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Montgomery Township Police and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office for an update.
