Employee at GSE murdered

Rochelle Webster, an administrative assistant in the Graduate School of Education, was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend Wednesday night, Victim Support and Special Services Director Maureen Rush said. Bryon Davis confessed to murdering Webster before jumping off the Benjamin Franklin Bridge at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. A Philadelphia Police Homicide spokesperson said Davis' body has not yet been found by search crews, adding that the investigation will be continued today. Rush said that Davis is presumed to be dead. Although the status of Davis and Webster's relationship is unclear at this time, Rush said the couple has a three-year-old son. She added that Webster had received a Protection From Abuse Order against Davis last October. The order, which usually sets limitations on social interactions between the parties and child custody, was obtained after Davis struck Webster in an on-campus incident. Rush said that on the night of the murder, Davis drove Webster and their child to his home in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, because her apartment was on fire and she could not stay there. Webster was later found dead in Davis' apartment on the 1900 block of 69th Avenue by Philadelphia Police. The child was discovered unharmed and asleep in another room. Rush said Victim Support had helped Webster since she obtained the court order. In addition, University Police provided an escort for Webster when she was feeling unsafe on campus. "In a follow-up conversation with a Victim Support officer last week, it appeared that things were going quite well," Rush said. "She seemed very happy. "It was a tragic end to a situation that was unclear as to why she was with him," she added. Rush added that Protection From Abuse Orders can be helpful in domestic violence cases, and this incident should not deter other people from seeking assistance. Victim Support provided a counselling session yesterday for Webster's friends and co-workers, she said. "Her colleagues are shaken and saddened by the incident," Rush said. "They will feel her loss for a long time to come." In Wednesday night's incident, traffic was stopped on the bridge and power was cut to the westbound PATCO High-Speed Line tracks as Delaware Port Authority Police Officer Thomas Jeffers attempted to talk Davis down from the ledge for more than 20 minutes. Davis said he could not come down and had to jump because he "killed his girlfriend," according to Philadelphia Police Detectives. Earlier that day, Davis told a friend he "did something horrible," and ordered the friend to "go get his son." The Philadelphia Inquirer contributed to this story.