DANVERS — An online fundraiser for the family of Janet Swallow has surpassed $55,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
The GoFundMe.com page was created Friday by family friends after Swallow, 68, was found stabbed to death in her Danvers home in what investigators are calling a random killing, a tragedy that has rocked the community.
Bishop Fenwick senior and Lynn resident Anthony DeMayo, 18, was arraigned on murder charges Friday in Salem District Court. He was found wandering through a Lynn neighborhood the day before on March 12 wielding a bloody knife, and allegedly told Lynn officers who found him that he murdered a woman in Danvers.
Investigators said he broke into Swallow’s home through a window that Wednesday night and stabbed her while she was in bed. There are no known ties between the two.
DeMayo is being held without bail pending a probable cause hearing on April 1.
Swallow’s friends and former colleagues have taken to social media to remember her over the last week.
“Janet, you were the funniest nurse I have had the pleasure of working with … ,” one woman wrote in a comment on the fundraiser page. “We will always remember your excellent nursing humor and how to (help) us out of a situation. God Speed J.”
Swallow was born in Rockville Centre, New York, and moved to Massachusetts to attend Boston College in the 1970s, according to her obituary published in The Salem News on Wednesday.
She started her career as a nurse at the former Hunt Memorial Hospital in Danvers, then spent three decades devotedly caring for patients in the critical and intensive care units at Lahey Medical Center in Burlington.
Swallow was “respected by colleagues and deeply appreciated by the countless patients and families she helped during difficult moments,” according to her obituary. She also loved to go to the beach, read and spend time with her friends, two sons, her stepson, daughters-in-law, granddaughter and siblings.
“She especially valued the time spent with those close to her, sharing conversation, laughter and friendship,” the obituary said.
Visiting hours for friends and family of Swallow will be held from 1-4 p.m. Sunday at C.R. Lyons & Sons Funeral Home at 28 Elm St. in Danvers. All other services will be private.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/janetswallowfundraiser to donate to the GoFundMe fundraiser.
For community members seeking support in light of the tragedy, visit https://danverscares.org/ or call Danvers Public Health Nurse Judith Ryan at 978-762-0208 ext. 3519.