True Crime with Kimbyr - Single Mother’s Dream Turned Nightmare: The Tragic Murder of Donna Willard

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

In this heartbreaking episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, we uncover the shocking case of Donna Willard, a hardworking mother of three who was on the brink of a new life—until tragedy struck. As a successful hairstylist and newly engaged woman, Donna’s future seemed bright. But in 1990s Southwest Philadelphia, the unthinkable happened. Who would take everything from her in an instant? And why? Join Kimbyrleigha as she delves into the chilling details of a case that proves no one is truly safe. This is the kind of story that stays with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mother of three, Donna Willard, had it all. A successful business, a devoted fiance, and lovely children she adored. All of her dreams were coming true until one day, when she crossed paths with a stranger. In this case, there's so much mystery beyond just the murder. This is her story. Hi, everyone, welcome back to my channel. My name is Kimberlya. If you've never been here before, nice to finally meet. When I'm looking at cases to do, the ones that impact me the most are usually ones that can happen to anyone.

Not someone who is in a lifestyle where maybe you knew something would happen. These aren't people in gangs or drug dealers, but just ordinary people living their lives and then something totally unexpected and out of the ordinary that no one saw coming happens. Tragedy strikes and the person loses their life. That is what happened in today's case. And those are the ones that are so scary to me personally. And what's crazy is there's so much more mystery beyond just the murder in this case. Today I'm taking you to Southwest Philadelphia. Southwest Philadelphia back in the 90s. Growing up in Southwest Philadelphia back then

was a unique experience. The neighborhoods were mixed with working class families and those who were struggling to make ends meet. The crime rate was high and the average income was low. The neighborhoods were plagued. by gang violence, drug trafficking, and robbery. But despite the challenges,

there was also a very strong sense of community. Neighbors looked out for each other and children played together in the streets. There was also a number of community organizations that were formed to provide support and resources to families, but there was still 500 murders that took place in Philadelphia in 1990.

And I'm gonna be talking about one of them today. I'm introducing you to Donna Marie Milliken Willard. She was born January 21st, 21st, 1956 to parents Marian Wolf and Joseph Milligan. Donna was one of five children. She was the second oldest. She had one brother and three sisters, George, Marion, Mimi, and Joan. She was the closest to her little sister Joan.

They were inseparable, only three years apart. They didn't need friends growing up because these siblings had one another. And that was especially true for these two lovely little girls. I can tell from their childhood photos that Joan and Donna had a very fun-filled childhood. Donna was a ball of energy, a tiny little thing with bright blue eyes and light blonde hair.

She was very outgoing, she loved to laugh, and she was also always there for her friends and family. This is one of those stories where I don't have as much information as I would have liked about Donna, but I wanted to tell you her story regardless. I did my best to paint a very complete picture of who she was for you. She remained very close to her sister Joan

as they got older. This picture of the two of them together, says so much. Look how close they are. And Donna loved fashion. You can tell. She loved makeup and beauty, so it's no surprise that she gravitated towards becoming a hairstylist. When Donna was going into her 20s, she met a guy. They fell in love and the couple had children together. When Donna was 22, she had her son Todd. Then three years later came her daughter, who she named after herself Donna. And three years after that, she had little Jessica. The kids were very close growing up, not only with one another, but with their aunt Joan and her kids as well.

Altogether, Donna and her siblings had 16 children. That's a lot of kids running around. Joan and Donna's kids hung out all the time. They were more like siblings than cousins, and that was great because Donna would need a support system. Once her and her boyfriend realized it wasn't going to work out between the two of them, they ended up splitting up, and Donna became a single mom two or three kids.

She was so hardworking. She lived to provide a good life for her children. She was also kind-hearted. I mean, there were times clients of hers were down on their luck. They couldn't afford a cut or a color, and Donna would do their hair for free. My mom was a cosmetologist for years. We had a salon in our home at one point, and Donna reminded me so much of my own mother. That is what actually drew me into this case to begin with.

Even the way they looked so vibrant, smiling, with a light blonde hair. Donna loved fashion, as I said. She loved wearing long, dangling earrings, tight stretch pants. and tight skirts. Think the fashion of pretty woman. That was what was popular back then, and it has been coming back. The 90s look is definitely in fashion right now. Joan described Donna as such a good person,

a devoted mom who raised well-behaved children, and she loved them more than anything in this world. Family meant so much to Donna. She loved her job, too, even though it was hours and hours on her feet. She was grateful. She always had a smile on her face, even through life's hardships.

hardships like raising her kids on her own. Finally, after working at the salon for many, many years, Donna saved all of her money and was able to purchase the salon with a partner. That was a huge accomplishment. She was a woman that had big dreams and she was making them come true. This salon had a cute name. It was called So Here It Is, it was a little play on words, a little more tasteful than the one that used to be in my neighborhood called Head First. And so, Donna lived with her children Todd, little young Donna, and Jessica in a cute two-story home at 62, Rilin Street. This is what's known as the Elmwood section of town.

She had been living over here for over a decade. It's only a three-minute drive from her salon, and she decorated this home so nicely. It was so cozy and tidy, perfect for her little family. She was even able to send all three of her children to private school. They attended St. Barnabas Catholic School, which was also just three minutes. away from their house, very convenient. Things were good for Donna and her family. She was so proud of her beauty salon.

Her sister Joan actually worked there too alongside her. It was known as a fun place where you could go and have social hour, if you will. A place to make a routine part of your month. When you came to see Donna, it was fun. Her clients cherished her like a close friend. They would sit around and gossip and laugh together. It was great.

Donna had made quite an impression in her town, and there were people who would drive for from far away and come all the way over to see Donna. They wanted her to do their hair. And you know what? Her personality, her work ethic, and the fun atmosphere that she created was the reason for her continued success.

And I have so much respect for single mamas, because I was one of them, it can be tough. Donna was not rich by any means, even with her own business and being able to send her children to private school. She was making it though, and that's what mattered. And because she didn't have a lot, She knew what it was like to need things and she gave to others. Her sister Jones said she had a heart of gold.

She was always so surprised at how resilient her older sister was. She didn't know how she kept it all together, but she did. Donna hardly had time for herself, which is why she was single as well. I mean, with the salon, three kids. It really was not easy for Donna to date. But in 1988, Donna fell in love with one of her clients, actually, which worked out perfectly. He came into the salon one day.

and he made it a point to keep coming back. His name was Thomas Terrell, who everyone called Tommy, and they were smitten. Tommy loved Donna's spunky personality, how hardworking she was. There wasn't anything that she couldn't do. He said she was the prettiest that anyone had ever seen, but she was prettier inside than out. And Tommy was a sweetheart. They just hit it off.

It wasn't just, I like you and we're dating relationship. This was like, I'm in love with you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. kind of relationship. Donna's family adored Tommy as well, and that was a rarity because they didn't like some of Donna's ex-boyfriends. And when he proposed not too long after they got serious, everyone was so happy for them. They were excited to celebrate their engagement and Donna was on top of the world. She couldn't wait to have a husband and to start a life together. Joan said that Donna's ultimate dream was about to be realized. Her biggest goal was to get married and then move out of

southwest Philly then own her own home but on March 6th 1990 all of those dreams would be shattered in the blink of an eye and the reason will shock you. A 911 call came in around 930 p.m. Here's that unbelievable audio now. I'm pretty sure that you could gather the details of what was happening there. One of Donna's neighbors was on the line with a 911 dispatcher. You can hear kids crying in the background. The atmosphere is one of shock and confusion as this woman is trying to stay calm and relay the information about what is going on. She told the operator that there had been a shooting, that a woman had been shot her neighbor across the street and that she had her neighbor's kids with her. They had ran over and told her what happened.

Of course, officers were on the scene immediately, but there was nothing they could do. Donna Willard had been killed just like that. On a normal school night, this mother was gunned down in her home. It was a shocking scene. They found her lying on the floor right in front of her door deceased. Homicide investigators went out there that night and they're trying to understand what happened. Lieutenant Joe Whitty was the lead detective on this case. Homicide itself, not unusual for this part of town or this city, but this type of homicide was different. Like I said in my intro, this wasn't someone in a gang. This wasn't a shootout over drugs or a person with a criminal record. This was a hardworking single mom.

killed in her own home. Why? That was the biggest question. Lieutenant Whitty entered the house, and this is what it looked like back then in 1990. I looked at it on Google, and as it stands today, it looks a lot different than it did back then. You can see how close these homes are to one another. It's a very close-knit little street where everyone's kids played together. Everyone helped one another, and they were in complete shock, especially when the news traveled about who had been killed. Lieutenant Woody looked around and the first thing that struck him as odd was that the home was in perfect condition. There was nothing strewn around the rooms. No one had been looking for something like drugs or money to steal. Nothing looked taken at all. Right when he

walked in, there was Donna, right at the foot of the stairs. She was in a very unnatural position. She was on her side. There was blood and human tissue on the carpeted stairs. And just look. a pair of shoes on the stairs. It's just, it's so normal. It's like one of our homes. We can imagine coming on from work, taking your sneakers off, putting them at the bottom of the stairs, or your children getting out of their sneakers and putting them there to be put back later. It hits so close to home. Donna had all of her clothes on. They didn't seem to have been torn, not, ripped, or touched at all, and he could see that she had two bullet wounds to her head, which was covered in blood, and there was spatter all over the walls in proximity.

to her body. Lieutenant Whitty had seen a lot of murders, but it was very difficult to look at this young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Who could have done this? Looking around the house, the doors they had not been broken into, none of the windows had been pried open, no forced entry was detective, no furniture had been overturned, no signs of a fight

or a struggle were present at all. As the investigators are going through the home, and of course, putting the crime scene tape up, tape up, around the premises. Donna's fiance Tommy drives up. Of course, he would be a person of interest right away. He was someone very close to her. He saw all the commotion on the street and he knew something horrible happened. That's when he realized it was Donna's house that the cops were at. They tell him that the adult female occupant has been shot and she is deceased. Tommy's world came crumbling down when he heard those words. He didn't know what to think. Of course they want to know

what is your relationship to the victim? He explained. He's her fiance. And they inform him that they would like to take him down to the station for questioning, and he agrees. They ask him, where were you tonight? Tom said, I was working. He worked as a steam fitter. He's part of a union of highly skilled pipe fitters. These individuals install piping for new construction and factories, as well as do maintenance on boilers and high pressure equipment, especially at critical facilities, such as hospitals. He explained that that night there was a union meeting at 7.30 p.m. and that's where he was until he made his way over Donna's to spend the night. The investigators make it a point to go to his employers the next day and gather all of the

information about whether they could verify his alibi. Meanwhile, they are canvassing the neighborhood, taking down license plate numbers for every car in sight and looking for a murder weapon since it could have been disposed of somewhere on that street. But they do not find a weapon and nothing that leads them to a suspect. By the very next day, the news was reporting on Donna's murder. Headlines read things like mother of three shot dead at home or woman shot to death in her home. The articles had little information on what had happened, but they reported that a woman was shot to death inside her home and found inside the door deceased, shot twice in the head.

That's a lot of information for just having been coming out the next day. One fact they revealed was that all three of Donna's children were home and hiding upstairs. The next day, Lieutenant Whitty is also looking into Tom's alibi. And luckily, considering he worked for the union, Lieutenant Whitty was able to easily contact his employer and they had a record of him being at that meeting that night. He was ruled out as a suspect at this point. He'd even agreed to take a polygraph so he could be cleared. And through his demeanor and how heartbroken he was, it didn't seem like he was acting like a person who was guilty of.

of such a horrific crime. He was absolutely distraught. He wanted help in any way that he could. The best way he could was to give him as much information about his fiance as possible, and that's what he did. All of Donna's neighbors, close friends, clients, and family members, they were being contacted.

They were being notified, and it was really heartbreaking for them to find out this news. But they also wanted to ask these individuals questions. Most neighbors wanted to remain anonymous. They were scared. When the media, came knocking, one neighbor did say that Donna was a hard worker. She was a good neighbor that

everyone on the block knew since she had lived there for over a decade. The neighbor said, those poor kids. And that's all I could think about. Speaking of kids though, Donna was someone's child, someone's daughter, and that someone was Marion. Notifying her mother was so hard. Of course, she was heartbroken, she was in total disbelief. And in an eerie coincidence, Donna used to tell her mother that she was going to die young and violently. She said, perhaps I'll die in a car accident. She would ask her mother, will you take care of the kids for me? Marion, of course, didn't like when she would say these type of things, and she would usually try to just brush them off. But when she was told that her daughter did die of violent death, at only 34 years old, it sent chills down her spine.

She was living in a nightmare. It was so hard to believe. She had just seen her the same night that she was killed. Earlier that day, Donna had visited her father, and then her and the kids went over to Marion's house for dinner. A couple hours later, she was dead. She would be missed by so many people, not just her family, but neighbors. One year, Donna knew that one of her neighbors couldn't afford a Thanksgiving dinner, but they wouldn't accept any money from Donna when she offered a help. So Donna actually pretended to Winnie a Raffle so that she could gift this woman a turkey. She did this again when Easter rolled around and gifted her a ham. This is the kind of person that was taken from this world.

A person who had very little but was still willing to give. And just a few hours before she was killed, Donna was playing with her baby niece and putting Easter dresses for her daughters on Layaway. That is so sad. Telling Donna's closest sister Joan about her murder was not easy. Getting the news that your loved one is dead and that their kids, No longer have a mother? It was unreal. Her poor children. So of course, Joan came to the rescue that night. After she heard what happened, she stepped in and picked up Donna's kids.

Joan's husband, James Cattala, was a former police officer. She had seen many tragedies, but never imagined this would happen to her own family. No one could comprehend how something like this could happen, period. But to someone so close to them, Donna didn't have enemies. When her clients came into the salon the very next day, they were stunned. The local media was outside. There was not a dry eye in that place. It was too much for them to take. Just like that.

She was gone. They were all interviewed, and no one had anything to offer as far as clues. They didn't know who could have done this. The manager of the salon, Lorraine McCrossin, she was questioned along with her husband, Thomas. Then he, Jones, husband, James, as well as Donna's fiancee, Tommy,

sat down with the police, right in Donna's living room discussing theories about what could have happened. She was tiny, only 85 pounds. She worked 10 to 12 hours a day. Tom said this is a single parent who worked extra hard to give her kids everything. She lived her life to make sure her kids were happy. You couldn't find a better person. Tommy said he believed that Donna thought it was him knocking on the door that night,

and that's why she quickly unlocked it and opened it without hesitation. And as close as the homes were to one another, none of her neighbors heard anything, or so they said. They never heard anything or saw anything out of the ordinary. But it was late. It was dark outside. People were cooking. They were eating, sleeping, watching TV. No one had any viable leads for the detectives, except for Tommy.

He mentioned that they should look into Donna's old boyfriend Doug. She had dated him about three years ago for about six months. It wasn't a very serious relationship, but he had been coming around recently, calling, getting into her business, and Tom wasn't a fan and neither was her family. They didn't like Doug very much. Joan didn't like the way that he talked or treated her sister. So she agreed, you should look into him. But before they went further, it turned out there was an eyewitness to Donna's murder. That's right.

Her sweet little 12-year-old son, Todd. Joan let the investigators know that Todd had seen everything. Now that is really heartbreaking, but at the same time, Lieutenant Woody knows that time is of the essence and eyewitnesses is the best evidence they can have. So Todd, he's just been through the most traumatic thing he will ever experience in his life. Yet he knew that telling the investigators what he had seen could potentially help catch his mother's killer. So he bravely sat down with his aunt and Lieutenant Woody to really, relay what happened that unforgettable night.