Family of slain student offers reward

August 19, 2008 05:05 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff

The family of slain college student Rebecca Payne made a public plea for information in the killing today, offering a $25,000 reward for any information that could lead to an arrest.

Family members said they never expect to have closure in the death of Payne, a Northeastern University senior, but that an arrest would at least bring justice in the case.

“We will never forget her. But my main concern is I would never want another parent to feel what I’m feeling right now,” her mother, Virginia Payne, said at a new conference today outside police headquarters.

The family has raised a $25,000 reward with the assistance of Northeastern University and Legal Sea Foods, where Payne worked as a waitress.

Payne, a 22-year-old from New Milford, Conn., was found dead May 20 in her apartment on Parker Hill Avenue, in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Roxbury. She had suffered from gunshot wounds to her legs and chest.

From the beginning of the investigation, police were stymied. Investigators found no signs of forced entry. Also, witnesses told police they heard gunshots some time in the early hours, but didn’t think to report what they heard to police.

A building manager noticed Payne’s apartment door open at about 6:50 a.m. and called police, who found the body.

Payne was majoring in athletic training. She wanted to attend college in Boston since first visiting the city in high school, her father said.

“She loved this place…she really was a city girl,” he said. He said an arrest in the case would make sure “there’s not someone out there who can do this again.”