In the early morning hours of September 29, 2023, the life of 35-year-old Giselle Karen 'Gigi' Trabal, a Black / African American woman, was tragically cut short in her Allentown, Pennsylvania, apartment. At approximately 2 a.m., police responded to a shooting at 628 North Law Street, where they found Trabal inside her first-floor residence with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest but succumbed to her injuries at 4:49 a.m.
The Lehigh County Coroner later ruled her death a homicide.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a chilling sequence of events. Earlier that evening, Obadiah Whack, then 29, had been inside Trabal's apartment and engaged in a heated argument with several people. After being told to leave, Whack went to a nearby home, retrieved a handgun, and returned to Trabal's apartment. Standing in the hallway, he threatened to shoot through the front door when he was not allowed back inside. He then fired a single 9-millimeter round through the closed door, striking Trabal in the chest while her three children were asleep inside.
Witnesses provided a description of Whack and the license plate of his vehicle, which led police to an apartment on North 14th Street. There, several individuals pushed Whack out of the residence along with a bag containing two firearms, one of which was later confirmed to be the murder weapon. Whack was taken into custody and charged with criminal homicide, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure. He was held at Lehigh County Jail without the possibility of bail.
After three days of trial, Obadiah Whack, then 30, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and possession of a firearm prohibited. On April 17, 2025, a judge sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in state prison for the senseless killing of Giselle Trabal. Remembered by her family as a 'happy spirit,' Trabal was a mother of three who, despite facing hardships, was dedicated to ensuring her children were safe and loved.
