Police suspect robbery was the motive in the killing of the 80-year-old.

Police suspect robbery was the motive in the killing of the 80-year-old.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — An 80-year-old Brownlee Woods area woman was fatally shot in the head in the St. Dominic Church parking lot after leaving the church at about 8:45 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Capt. Rod Foley, chief of detectives for the city police, said someone arriving at the church found the woman in her car around 9:15 a.m. on the Auburndale Avenue side at the rear of the South Side church.

Foley said the motive for the homicide appears to be robbery and that police believe the victim was the last person to leave the church after the 8 a.m. Mass.

“It looks like she was assaulted at her vehicle, and that’s where she was murdered,” Foley said. “We believe she was shot in her car,” he added.

Police were canvassing the neighborhood and examining church security camera videos seeking details of the shooting. Police had no suspects in custody and were not releasing the victim’s identity late Saturday.

It was the city’s fourth homicide of 2010. There was only one by this time last year.

Clergy of the Roman Catholic parish, which serves more than 1,100 families, did not respond to a request for comment.