Cops ID Second Suspect in Slaying of Holmesburg Grandmother, Friend

Dollie Evans and Ruby Thomas were, by all accounts, a pair of sweet, kind women whose lives came to a horrific end inside their Holmesburg home in August of 2014.

Police found Evans, 67, dead on her couch, with a gunshot wound to the head. Thomas, 57, was found on the second floor of the property, on Vista Street near Torresdale Avenue, with an electric cord around her neck. She’d also been shot in the head.

James Mears, a 25-year-old man who’d been staying with the two women, was locked up a few days after cops made the grim discovery. He was charged with murdering them over $500 in cash that he’d plotted to steal from the house.

But the case isn’t closed. Philadelphia police announced this morning that Homicide detectives have identified a second suspect: Ronald Dorsey, 27, of Upsal Street near Lowber Avenue.

An arrest warrant was issued for Dorsey on February 24th. Investigators say Dorsey should be considered armed and dangerous. Tipsters can contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or -3335.

In the wake of Evans’ murder, relatives and neighbors described her as a kind-hearted woman who regularly opened her door to strangers who were down on their luck.

“She just was an overall nice person, period,” Folesia Knox, Evans’ niece, told the Daily News at the time. “Picture how grandmas are. She didn’t mind if she didn’t eat at all, as long as you ate.”

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