MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — Two women in their 60s are dead in two separate crimes scenes just blocks apart from each other, and investigators are ruling both as homicides.
Anna "Red" Lawson, 63, was found in her home on E. Sherman Boulevard, and Judy Bushman, 62, was found dead in her home in the 2600 block of Wood Street.
Police say Lawson was found dead in her home around 1 a.m. Tuesday and it appeared she suffered stab wounds.
At roughly 7 a.m., police were called to to Bushman's home just blocks away after they said family couldn't reach her. She was also found deceased, but police are not yet confirming the nature of her death. They have ruled out possible death by gunshot.
FOX 17 spoke with Kim Bradford, a longtime friend of Lawson, who claims to have discovered her body Tuesday morning before calling police.
"I started crying, you know why did this happen and all this, I don't know why, she ain't bother nobody," Bradford said.
She recalled finding Lawson after going to check up on her because she hadn't been answering her phone or returning her calls.
"She didn't do anything to deserve this, she was a good person, she would help anybody." Bradford said.
2006 Chevrolet Malibu similar to the one missing from Lawson's home (stock photo)
Neighbors of Lawson said she was a woman with a routine, which is why several thought it was odd when they didn't hear her start her car to leave her home this morning.
"That's unusual because I see Red, I sleep in that room there and I hear Red when she crank her car up, you know I hear her, and I didn't hear her," said Shirley Webster.
Investigators later determined Lawson's car had gone missing from her home and quickly sent out a notice urging people in the area to be on the look-out for a grey-colored 2006 Chevrolet Malibu with the license plate 8KV723.
"It's awful, I want to get up out of here,"Webster said. "There's too much going on in Muskegon, it's getting crazy."
Judy Bushman, 62, found dead in her home Tuesday in the 6200 block of Wood St.
Meanwhile, mere blocks away, police and investigators with the Michigan State Police forensics lab spent the better part of Tuesday combing over the home of 62-year-old Bushman as longtime neighbors like Tannekqwa Thompson looked on in shock.
"I was like sad because I used to call her like my granny," Thompson said. "She used to come over here every day."
Thompson and Kwaleal Stanford say they're suspicious of the circumstances surrounding their neighbor's death.
"I feel real, real bad because I knew this lady and I knew that she just, she didn't deserve it,"Stanford said. "I know she didn't deserve it so I feel bad."
As of Tuesday evening, police had no suspects and no arrests had been made in either case.
If you know anything about these cases, you're asked to call Muskegon Heights Police at 231-733-8900 or Silent Observer anonymously at 72-CRIME.
