In the early morning hours of October 9, 2025, the quiet of a Detroit neighborhood was shattered by a tragic act of violence that claimed the life of 65-year-old Rosalyn Wordlaw. A beloved grandmother, she was fatally shot inside a home on Griggs Street in what authorities have described as a murder-suicide.
Family members identified the shooter as Wordlaw's own grandson, Corey Oliver, a man in his 20s.
According to relatives, Oliver had been grappling with escalating and undiagnosed mental health challenges. In the time leading up to the fatal incident, neighbors reported seeing him with a gun and making threats. It is believed that Wordlaw, in a final act of grandmotherly care, may have been attempting to intervene and de-escalate the volatile situation when she was shot.
Shortly after shooting his grandmother, Corey Oliver turned the gun on himself, ending his own life. Detroit police who responded to the scene near Eight Mile and Wyoming found both individuals deceased. Due to the nature of the event as a murder-suicide, with the sole suspect also being deceased, there were no arrests to be made in the case.
The tragedy left the family and community in deep mourning. Relatives remembered Rosalyn Wordlaw as a warm and caring woman who always put others first. Her death underscored the devastating impact of untreated mental health crises, leaving a void in the lives of those who knew and loved her. Funeral services were held the following week as the family gathered to honor the memory of a life cut short by a terrible family tragedy.
