Slain student was quick to lend a hand

Grieving wonder why no one came to her aid

Rebecca Payne sang Christmas carols to the elderly, volunteered at her hometown church, and took a nervous freshman under her wing.

The Northeastern University senior was there for people when they needed her, her friends said yesterday.

But when the 22-year-old needed help early Tuesday morning, no one responded to the screams or the sounds of gunshots coming from her Mission Hill apartment. Her body was not discovered until hours later, when a building manager saw her open door.

"How does that happen?" said David Watson, who graduated with Payne from New Milford High School in Connecticut in 2004. "It's almost sickening to think that someone could hear something like that and not do anything."

Yesterday a few more details emerged about Payne's killing, but the motive and the identity of the suspect remained shrouded in mystery. Half a dozen police officers continued to scour Payne's second-floor apartment for clues, as unnerved residents waited for answers about what happened in the neighborhood of families and college students.

There were no apparent signs of forced entry, and it was unclear yesterday whether anything was taken from Payne's apartment, said Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department. One witness saw a black van leave the apartment complex between 2 and 3 a.m., at about the same time neighbors said they had heard gunshots, Driscoll said.

Police do not believe that Payne was sexually assaulted, but are still waiting for full autopsy results that will reveal more about what happened to Payne, whose body was discovered at about 7 a.m. Tuesday with gunshot wounds to the legs and chest.

It was a brutal end to a life that friends, family, and teachers said was full of promise.

In a prepared statement, her parents, Nicholas and Virginia, remembered their only child as a sports fan who loved the Yankees and soccer and hoped to become an athletic trainer.

"We would like to remember Rebecca as someone always smiling, never worrying about things not worth worrying about," they said.

In high school, Payne threw herself into several activities, singing in school musicals, editing the yearbook, running track, and playing tennis and field hockey. She was known to stay after school five days a week, friends said.

Popular and equally self-assured around adults and people her age, she seemed capable of anything, said Stephen Flanagan, who taught Payne history during her senior year of high school.

"Every once in a while you get a student who just lights up the room with their energy and intelligence and goodness, and that's really what she was like," he said. "It's hard to believe she's gone . . . Enormous potential to do good in this world has been lost."

Payne was active in the youth group at St. John's Episcopal Church, helping to raise funds for the disabled and waiting tables during pancake breakfasts.

At Northeastern, Payne helped organize an interfaith retreat, was active in the Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry, and became president of the Athletic Training Club.

Tara Turner, a sophomore at Northeastern who grew up in New Milford and was part of the same church youth group, recalled how hard Payne worked to make her feel at home when she first arrived in Boston, introducing her to her friends.

Payne's energy, Turner said, was astounding.

"I just think that she was one of those people that really loved life and wanted to get everything out of it that she could," Turner said. "It's so hard to imagine someone so full of life taken away so easily."

Turner said she was disturbed by the apparent apathy of neighbors.

"You wish that someone would have called," Turner said. "Maybe it could have helped police catch whoever it was easier."

Oscar Cartagena, 21, who lives on the third floor of the building with his mother, said he heard four to five gunshots at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Asked why he did not call police, he said, "If I called police every time I heard gunshots, they'd be here every night."

Yesterday, Cartagena said that he should have called police but that it would have been useless.

"They probably would have passed by, looked around, and went on their way," he said.

Other neighbors said they would have taken action if they had heard the shots. "I would have called," said Ninaz Shiva, 28, who lives on the third floor. "But sometimes you don't know. You think you're hallucinating. You don't think it could happen here."

For those who knew Payne, the sense of loss overshadows all speculation about what might have happened if someone had picked up the phone.

"I can't imagine her turning the other direction if someone was in trouble," Flanagan said. "The point is she's gone. The end result is she's gone, and it hurts."

Globe correspondent Jillian Jorgensen contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.