Father says he thought slain daughter was asleep

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — The father of a northwestern Pennsylvania woman found dead in her apartment says he checked on his daughter a few hours before his wife found her fatally stabbed but thought she was just sleeping.

Charles Sawyer says the last time he saw his 28-year-old daughter Nikkia alive was Sunday after a Father’s Day outing. His wife Juanita found the woman’s body Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say Nikkia Sawyer had been fatally stabbed.

Charles Sawyer said he’d gone to check on his daughter earlier Tuesday but thought she was asleep on her bed when he peered into her room. Juanita Sawyer says she uncovered her body several hours later then called 911.

The Sawyers say Nikkia was volunteering while awaiting word on her application to Columbia University’s medical school.