Elderly woman Mildred Martin shot, killed while playing cards on porch

An elderly woman was killed by a stray bullet late Monday night while playing cards on her porch.

Detectives said a single shot was fired around 11:15 p.m. in the 900 block of Proctor Street in northwest Atlanta. That bullet ripped through a window on her front porch.

The woman, identified as 81-years-old Mildred Martin, was hit in the back. Her neighbor she was playing cards with tried to revive her, but she died at the scene.

Witnesses told detectives she was sitting in a chair playing cards with a friend. That friend went inside the home to get a drink, when he heard the victim yell. At first the friend didn't think much of it, according to police, but when he came back out he found the woman lying on the porch.  

Police recovered a shell casing about a 150 yards up the road. They think it was from the fatal shot. Investigators don't think this was a case of celebratory gunfire because the woman wasn't hit at the correct angle.

Neighbors told reporters that Mildred was like an aunt to everyone in the neighborhood. She was even known to let transient men and women take showers before offering them a bite to eat.

Loved ones hope an arrest is made before anyone else is killed by random a senseless gunfire that neighbors say plagues this community.

Police are offering a $2,000 reward for clues that lead to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta.