Investigators Thursday identified the woman killed in a house fire near 20th Street and North Avenue this week as 55-year old Sharon Murdock.
According to authorities, a fire broke out at Murdock’s home shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Murdock was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, according to childhood friend Yvette Alston.
Alston said Murdock was shot in the head when she was in her late teens. The circumstances around the shooting remain murky to this day.
“She was never the same, but she still had that spunk in her,” Alston said.
Alston described Murdock as very soft-hearted and generous.
She said she was shocked to learn her childhood friend had been killed in the fire. The two lived next door to one another in Milwaukee’s Metal Village area, near 17th & Vliet.
“We were best friends,” Alston said.
According to a report from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner, Murdock’s body was found badly burned inside the residence.
She was found on the floor of her bedroom, where investigators believe the fire started.
“It appeared that the decedent had fallen out of the wheelchair to the floor,” according to the medical examiner’s report.
The report describes Murdock as a heavy smoker. Investigators still haven’t determined what caused the fire.
“The police on scene stated that the decedent has been involved in several accidental fires at her residence in the past,” the medical examiner’s report reads.
Alston said she will forever remember her childhood friend as fun and energetic.
“She had a big heart,” Alston said.
“I’m really, really heartbroken,” she also said.
