Woman's body found inside boarding home in West Philadelphia

A woman was shot to death inside a boarding house in West Philadelphia. Now police want to know who killed her and why.

The discovery was made inside a house on the 5100 block of Spruce Street, where numerous people are living in separate bedrooms inside.

At 6:42 a.m. Friday police were called here following the report of a shooting.

Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark explains, "It is actually inside of a boarding home, in the first floor living room area. They found underneath a blanket an unidentified black female. She was pronounced on the scene."

But what police found inside was a crime that actually happened days or weeks ago.

Captain Clark says, "She was starting to decompose. So we believe she had been there for a couple of weeks, at least."

Detectives tell us there was a foul smell inside, and they are unsure how the roommates could have missed the body of 28-year-old Geneva Owens lying dead in the main living room of the residence.

Owens was shot once in the neck.

Police say there were at least five other people who lived in the home at the time. They are now being questioned about the details that lead up to today's discovery.

"Through our investigation we found she was shot one time. I still have detectives out there trying to find out what happened. It is very, very preliminary," Clark said.

Police say they know very little about this board home and how it was operating, and if drugs may have been involved.

A background we did on some of the people who lived in this house in the past shows some of them do have convictions for sex crimes, as well as gun offenses. However, there is no word if any of those people are potentially involved in this murder.