Sloane Grodnick’s friends launched a GoFundMe campaign to plant a memorial tree for the 24-year-old artist after she and her mother were killed by her father in their New Jersey home.
The fundraiser, organized by friends who knew Grodnick since her pre-teen years, has already raised more than $3,500 toward creating a permanent tribute at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. The 42-acre nonprofit sculpture park, museum and arboretum will host a tree and accompanying plaque honoring the young woman, who was pursuing a master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design when she died.
David Grodnick, 61, an insurance executive, shot and killed his daughter Sloane and his wife Lora, 62, inside the family’s $1.7 million Montgomery Township mansion on Oct. 2 before turning the gun on himself, according to prosecutors. The murder-suicide shocked the wealthy Somerset County community and left friends scrambling to make sense of the violence.
“We knew Sloane through her pre-teen years and watched her grow up,” her friends wrote on the GoFundMe page. “We spent countless days swimming, coloring, listening to music, and talking about everything happening in each of our lives, from the mundane to the exciting.”
The friends painted a portrait of a vibrant young woman who brought lightness to those around her. “She was silly, she was funny, and she deserved so much more,” they continued.
Grodnick’s artistic pursuits had already taken her through the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She had carried that passion forward into her graduate studies, with her friends noting that creating art remained central to her identity throughout her academic career.
The memorial’s location carries particular resonance given Grodnick’s devotion to art. Grounds for Sculpture features world-renowned sculptures and installations across its landscaped grounds, offering visitors an immersive environment where creative works intersect with nature.
“[W]e would like to honor Sloane within Grounds for Sculpture, where world-renowned sculptures, art installations, and beautiful gardens share the landscape,” the friends explained in their fundraising appeal.
They emphasized that the setting would reflect what mattered most to her. “This way, her memory will be surrounded by what she loved most, and those that loved her will have a place to visit and keep her memory alive,” they added.
The double homicide and suicide inside the spacious family home on Oct. 2 rattled Montgomery Township, an affluent community where violent crime is rare. David Grodnick’s position in the insurance industry and the family’s multimillion-dollar property stood in stark contrast to the brutal domestic violence that ended three lives.
Law enforcement officials have not publicly disclosed a motive for the killings, and the investigation into what precipitated David Grodnick’s actions remains ongoing.
The friends’ tribute effort represents an attempt to reclaim Grodnick’s story from the circumstances of her death, focusing instead on her creative spirit and the connections she forged during her abbreviated life. Their campaign language deliberately centers her personality and aspirations rather than the violence that ended them.
