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Woman Killed In Taunton Rampage Had 'Generous Heart'

TAUNTON (CBS) - Before a Taunton man attacked several people at the Silver City Galleria on Tuesday night, he attacked a mother and daughter in their home.

Arthur DaRosa had no connection to 80-year-old Patricia Slavin and her 48-year-old daughter Kathleen who were having dinner inside their house on Myricks Street.

DaRosa was able to get inside the house and began stabbing both women. He then ran from the home and took off toward the mall.

Patricia was rushed to Morton Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Kathleen was taken by MedFlight to Brigham and Women's Hospital. She remains in serious condition.

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The family's priest says Patricia was an eternal optimist.

"Just a really joyful woman, a really peaceful woman, always upbeat," Father Kevin Cook said. "She would bring communion to the sick once a week."

Slavin leaves behind six children and seven grandchildren. She had worked as a nurse in the community for many years before retiring.

"She was just a woman with a great, generous heart so that's why it's even more so a shock," Cook said.

There will be a service Thursday night in her honor at Holy Family Church in East Taunton.

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