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Six months after her sister and niece were killed, their obituary remains affixed to the windshield of Patricia Smith's car as a constant reminder that their homicide remains unsolved.

Smith, 40, of Hyattsville said the last time she saw and talked to Delores and Ebony Dewitt was at the Hyattsville house of Patricia and Delores' mother, Rosa, about a week before the homicides.

"I'm a nurse as well. We had plans for the future," Smith said, which included starting a nursing business with Delores Dewitt. "It's like someone ripped my whole world apart."

Dewitt, 42, had been a nurse for nine years at Bradford Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clinton. Her 19-year-old daughter, Ebony, had graduated from Largo High School in 2007. She was working at Comcast in Largo and had recently received her medical assistant certification from Sanz College in Washington, D.C.

Ebony Dewitt had planned to start working at Georgetown University Hospital in the District.

Family members said relationships in the Dewitt home were sometimes strained.

Dealing with two teenage daughters — Ebony and now-18-year-old Courtney Hicks — Delores Dewitt sometimes found herself in the midst of teen rebellion, not seeing the girls for a few days at a time, family members said.

Ebony Dewitt's father, Craig McDonald, 43, of Baltimore, said the last time he saw his daughter was about a year ago. McDonald said he and Delores Dewitt were high school sweethearts but never married. She later married daughter Courtney's father, who is deceased.

McDonald described Ebony as a loving child but acknowledged they were estranged, which he attributes to Delores Dewitt.

"I wasn't the father I should have been for her," McDonald said. "I tried to build a relationship with Ebony, but Delores wouldn't let me see her. I was told to go away. I would wait a while and go back. She'd give me the wrong address."

McDonald said his daughter had his personality, that she laughed a lot and had a warm heart.

"Now she's dead and gone. I'm very angry about it, upset about it," he said. "All I want is for whoever killed my daughter to be arrested. Nobody is exempt. Everybody is a suspect to me."

Relatives and friends of mother and daughter Karen and Karissa Lofton remember the women's strong bond and caring nature.

Karen Lofton and ex-husband Kirkland Lofton Sr., 46, of Atlanta, who divorced in 2004, have two children in addition to Karissa. Kion Lofton, 22, was not home the morning of the homicides, and Kirkland Lofton Jr., 24, lives in Washington, D.C.

Karen Lofton was expected to begin working as a school nurse at Lake Arbor Elementary School in Mitchellville on Jan. 26, the day she was killed.

Linda Campbell, principal of Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, where Karissa attended school and the family went to church, said Karen Lofton's maternal nature was apparent to all who met her.

"She loved her daughter and sacrificed for her to be in a private school," said Campbell, of Upper Marlboro. "She wanted her to have the best education possible."

Karissa, a junior at the school, was described as a "dainty" and "delightful" student who enjoyed English class, creative projects and fashion.

At Karissa Lofton's school, the brutal homicide of the two innocent women shook the tight-knit community, and Campbell said grief counselors were available to students.

"They were shocked and dismayed," Campbell said of the students. "They wanted to know why."

While community members and classmates crave answers, Charlene Weaver, 49, of Fort Washington, Karen's sister-in-law and Karissa's aunt, said she also is tired of waiting.

"What do we do now but just wait and hope that something will surface that will expose the murderer or murderers," Weaver said. "You don't know why, who, or anyone."

"I went from seeing them almost every day, every week, to not at all," Weaver said. "I just don't think you can have closure on having your loved ones snatched from you in that particular fashion."

Kirkland Lofton Sr. said he is not only frustrated but scared for his sons' safety.

"It's entirely too long for me. The murderer is still running around, and I have two sons in the area," he said. "There are a lot of sleeplessness nights for me."

In hopes of keeping the women's memory alive, Kirkland Lofton Sr. is in the process of establishing two scholarships — one for nursing, the other for liberal arts — for two students graduating in 2010 from Karissa's class at Riverdale Baptist.

Sandra Sherrill-Craig, 47, of Hyattsville believes the women were likely killed by someone they knew and is hoping evidence will surface soon.

Nearly eight months removed from the homicides, she said family members are continuing the healing process through therapy and religion.

"We pray to God, just wait on him," Sherrill-Craig said. "I get an answer from God, and he tells me he has everything under control."

E-mail Liz Skalski at eskalski@gazette.net and Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.