Monday, April 21, 2008

Awoman shot to death last week in Prince George's County was described as a teacher who was beloved by her pre-kindergarten pupils at a charter school in the District.

Sheena M. Day, 24, was found fatally wounded April 13 in her apartment in Oxon Hill, Prince George's police said. Gary T. McKinley, 25, who shared the apartment on Alice Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder, police said.

They said the shooting followed a "domestic-related incident."

Early Childhood Academy Public Charter School, in the 4000 block of Ninth Street SE, is to close tomorrow for Day's funeral, the school's Web site said. It called Day "one of our beloved teachers."

Her students "loved her," Wendy S. Edwards, principal and executive director of the charter school, said last week. Day, who was a single parent, "just had a really good heart," Edwards said.

"The children, I think, saw her as a surrogate mom . . . a mom away from their mom."

Her 4-year-old charges "took to her," and she formed a bond with many of their parents, Edwards said.

Many of them, she said, are having "a difficult time wondering how such a horrible thing could happen to such a wonderful person."

Day "was quite a phenomenal woman," Edwards said. Day grew up in Prince George's, graduated from Towson State University and had a master's degree from George Washington University, Edwards said. She started with the charter school in August.

Day was a woman who had sacrificed for her attainments but was anything but a forbidding presence at the school, according to Edwards. If Day needed to develop any of the skills required of teachers, Edwards said, it was the ability "to be stern in some situations."

"She loved the kids so much," Edwards said, "it was hard to be a stern teacher, especially with little 4-year-olds."

The online edition of the Towerlight, an independent student newspaper at Towson University, said Day was a 2006 Towson graduate who was a highly regarded student assistant in the school's office of human resources.

She had also worked in human resources at Six Flags America, the online story said.

It quoted Gail Price, a benefits specialist in Towson's human resources office: "I just can't think of enough nice things to say about Sheena."

-- Martin Weil