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Larimer woman's death ruled a homicide by medical examiner

PITTSBURGH — The family of a woman shot and killed in Larimer last week is searching for answers.

On Aug. 11, Melissa Manhart, 42, was shot in the head and bled to death on the back porch of the home she had just moved into two days prior.

Manhart’s relatives want to know who would kill Melissa, and why.

“She was a good person, and she didn’t deserve to die like this,” said Cindy Russo, Melissa Manhart’s mother.

The family told Channel 11 they haven’t been able to sleep or eat since she died, knowing her killer is still walking the streets.

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Police found the mother of two in a puddle of blood last Friday, and they didn’t find any evidence at first.

“We don’t know how she died, when, how long she was laying there,” police said.

Police are continuing to investigate, hoping to find the person who killed her.

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The medical examiner declared a 42-year-old woman's death in Pittsburgh's Larimer neighborhood a homicide.

Police and the medical examiner were called to a home on Paulson Avenue just after 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 11.

They found a woman, later identified as Melissa Manhart, on the back porch lying in a puddle of blood.

"We need the community's partnership to solve this one,” said Sonya Toler, a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh police department. “There is absolutely nothing on the scene that gives us a clue right now.”

According to Channel 11's Mike Holden, someone driving by saw the woman and called 911.

When investigators arrived, they taped off the back porch, but no evidence markers were placed at the scene.

Police originally were treating the woman’s death as suspicious. The Medical Examiner's office performed an autopsy and ruled the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head.

"This did not just happen. How long she's been on the porch we don't know,” Toler said.

According to police, several people are being questioned but they are not being called suspects. Some just live in the multi-unit home where the woman was found.

"We will get an opportunity to go through the house once we have a search warrant,” Toler said.