Vera Coward was a 59-year-old female from Philadelphia whose life ended on the night of July 25, 2019, after a family argument turned fatal inside a Strawberry Mansion home. The shooting happened on the 2600 block of North 33rd Street, where police said the dispute between Vera and her brother continued after it had begun earlier that day at a car dealership.
Authorities identified the suspect as her brother, 65-year-old Wallace Coward.
Police said he fired at Vera shortly before 8:30 p.m., striking her twice in the chest and twice in the stomach. She was rushed to a hospital, but she was pronounced dead a short time later. The accounts available describe the killing as a domestic, family-related shooting rather than a random act of violence.
Wallace Coward was arrested and charged with murder and related offenses in connection with Vera Coward’s death. Later federal court records show Wallace D. Coward was incarcerated at SCI-Smithfield and described events from his earlier time as a pretrial detainee at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, but the online sources located did not provide a clear, publicly available final disposition of the murder case, including whether he was convicted, what specific charge he was convicted of, or what sentence was imposed.
The publicly available reports therefore establish that Vera Coward was fatally shot by her brother after an argument, that Wallace Coward was charged with murder and related offenses, and that he was later in Pennsylvania state custody. No detailed trial outcome, conviction record, or sentencing information was found in the accessible online sources reviewed.
