2 teens charged in killing of 90-year-old Concord woman, police say

CONCORD, N.C. — The Concord Police Department arrested two 17-year-old boys on murder charges in the death of 90-year-old Gilma Goodman.

The suspects went to Goodman’s home on McKinnon Avenue Wednesday night to rob her.

That’s when they shot and killed Goodman, police said.

Anthony Deion Cooper of Daley Circle and Isaiah Powell of Hogan Court, both in Concord, were charged with first-degree murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and discharge weapon into occupied property causing serious bodily injury.

Both have been placed into the Cabarrus County Jail.

Neighbors were searching for answers after Goodman's death.

"We don't understand why she could live such a good life and then somebody take it that quick," said neighbor Carolyne Oliver.

Oliver said she had known Goodman since she was 7 years old.

"She was just the best neighbor. You couldn't ask for a sweeter person," she said.

Goodman lived on McKinnon Avenue and called the quiet street home for as long as neighbors can remember.

"She was just good to everybody," Oliver said.

Goodman would go to bed before 10 o'clock every night, so when Oliver saw her back door hanging open on Wednesday night, she checked on her.

"That's when we found her and she was lying in the floor," she said.

Neighbors worried that Goodman suffered a heart attack, but police determined that someone shot and killed the 90-year-old.

Goodman wasn't planning to stay in her house much longer. A neighbor told Channel 9 that Goodman's doctor decided the day before the shooting that it was best for her to move into a nursing home.

"It's hard to deal with, but I didn't sleep well last night," said Oliver.

A half-dozen neighbors are also concerned about their safety. They said several houses have been broken into recently and Goodman's house had also been hit before.

But neighbors are asking how someone could kill a 90-year-old woman and why it would be Goodman.

"We don't understand," Oliver said. "We still wonder why because we don't know yet and don't know if we ever will know."

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