On a day that would become a haunting anniversary for her family, 36-year-old Stacie Lee Burnell was found dead in Chester, Pennsylvania. The date was November 11, 2011, a string of elevens that her mother, Nancy Shedlo, would later say continues to haunt her. Stacie's body was discovered dumped by the Delaware River, the victim of a homicide. An obituary described her as a resident of Ridley Park and a 'child of God,' now 'resting in His Arms.'
Stacie's death was attributed to gun
violence, another life lost in a city struggling to solve its homicides. In 2011, the year of Stacie's murder, Chester's police had only managed to solve 43 percent of their 21 homicide cases. This was a stark contrast to the national average and the clearance rates of nearby cities. Her case became one of many that left a family grieving without the solace of justice.
The investigation into who killed Stacie Lee Burnell has yielded no arrests and no publicly named suspects. Her murder is considered an unsolved homicide, one of a collection of cold cases that plague the city of Chester. The lack of progress in her case and others like it has been a source of frustration for the victims' families and the community. Authorities have previously cited a 'no-snitch' culture as a significant impediment to solving these violent crimes, leaving families like Stacie's in a prolonged state of uncertainty and grief.
Stacie left behind a daughter, Sadie Burnell, her mother Nancy L. Shedlo, her father Barry Burnell Sr., and a stepfather, Mitchell Shedlo. She also had sisters, Kimberly Carr and Carrie McDevitt, and a brother, Barry Burnell Jr., along with a grandmother and numerous nieces and nephews who mourned her sudden and violent passing.
