Hannah Gilley, one of the eight victims of a horrific mass shooting in south Ohio, was 'an innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time,' a family friend has claimed.
Patty Hammond, 46, attended the 20-year-old's funeral on Saturday a week after the new mother was shot dead alongside seven members of the Rhoden family in the town of Piketon.
While police have revealed no suspects or motive in the killings, the presence of marijuana grow sites near the bodies have led many to believe the murders were drug-related.
Speaking to Mail Online, Hammond said: 'She didn't deserve to die like that - she wasn't into drugs and, from what I hear locally, she didn't have any drugs in her system when she died.
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Patty Hammond, 46 (left), a family friend of murdered Hannah Gilley, 20 (right), claims the mother was not targeted because she was involved in drugs, but was murdered for her connection to the Rhoden family
Gilley, who was buried on Saturday (pictured), was married to 20-year-old Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden with whom she had a six-month-old child who luckily survived the massacre unharmed
'That poor girl shouldn't even have been there when the killers showed up.'
Blonde-haired Hannah - the mother of a six month old son by her fiancé, Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden, also 20 - was shot dead execution-style on April 22 along with Frankie.
When police arrived to investigate, they found a commercial marijuana-growing operation in three of the four Rhoden homes the bodies were found in.
The discovery triggered rumors over whether the deceased family members had been dealing drugs locally, or were involved with a sinister Mexican drug cartel.
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ShareOthers wondered if the victims had double-crossed a dope dealing partner who'd taken his revenge by wiping them out in one evil professional 'hit'.
Cops investigating the gruesome killings won't comment on any of these theories.
Meanwhile married mother of three Patty Hammond insisted: 'Hannah's family knows that she wasn't involved in any of that drug stuff, especially since she had a baby boy.
'I have nothing against the Rhodens - they suffered a huge loss with seven of their family killed with Hannah and I feel for them.
'But what upsets me is that all the attention around here has been on the Rhodens. It's the Rhodens this and the Rhodens that - nobody says anything about Hannah.
Gilley was shot dead alongside seven other members of the Rhoden family last week in the town of Piketon, Ohio, where police still have road blocks in place around the family home
Hammond says she is trying to support Gilley's family by helping them raise money to pay for her funeral (left) while the Rhoden family hold their own fundraiser on the same day (right)
'It's like poor Hannah has been booted aside like she wasn't even there - yet she died a horrible death just like all those Rhodens did. And she was innocent!'
When Patty heard that of a benefit on May 7 to raise money for the Rhoden family to pay for the funeral of six family members scheduled for Tuesday, she decided to organize a benefit for Gilley on the same day.
Patty - who is in the process of buying restaurant Beril's Bar and Grill, where she works - decided to hold the fundraiser for Gilley there.
She has printed flyers and posters which read: 'Benefit for Hannah Gilley - a victim of the tragic massacre on Union Hill (the Piketon street where three of the four murder homes are located).'
Patty hopes to raise the $7,900 the Gilley family paid for their daughter's funeral last Saturday.
She added: 'Hannah's family isn't rich - nobody around here is - so I want to help out as much as I can.'
'I wanted to make sure that Hannah's family - and her baby boy - aren't left out and lost in the shuffle.They need support too. '
The other benefit the same day is being organized by the Red Knights Motorcycle Club, Ohio Chapter 14, and its posters and fliers declare: 'All proceeds go to the Rhoden Family.'
Hammond says she has nothing against the Rhoden family and feels sorry for their loss, but says Gilley (casket, pictured) is being forgotten
Gary Rhoden, 38, was the first of those killed to be buried on Thursday last week. Gilley was buried on Saturday (pictured) while burials for the six other victims are planned for Saturday
While one recent report claimed that the Rhodens lost some support around Piketon when revelations about the marijuana found at their homes came out, there is clearly still a lot of sympathy for the family in this poor, run-down community.
Dave Entler, former U.S.Marine who now works a nearby nuclear plant near Piketon, said: 'The Rhodens were good people and I don't know if they were involved with drugs or if they weren't.
'But what I do know is that Pine County is one of the poorest counties in Ohio.
'There's a lot of people out of work around here and people do what they have to do to get by, to put food on the table for their families.'
About 25 per cent of the residents of Pike and Neighboring Pike counties live at or below the poverty line, compared to 16 per cent of Americans, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Average family income in the area is 60-70 percent of the national average.
Even as families lay their loved ones to rest and attempt to deal with the emotional damage caused by the killings, police seem to be no closer to finding those responsible.
Cops still have road blocks preventing all but residents from getting to Union Hill, where three of the homes used in the executions are located.
Similar precautions are in place on Left Fork Road, about 10 miles away, where Kenneth Rhoden was shot dead. Detectives and forensic experts are still working at the four houses, said locals.
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