LAWRENCE — A slippery stairway claimed the life of a Bigelow Street woman, who was found unconscious and with her head bleeding in front of her home yesterday, police said.
Pauline Abate, 52, of 19 Bigelow St., was found laying against the front stairway of her home about 7:30 a.m. by a man on his way to pick up his nieces.
A lunchbox and Market Basket plastic grocery bag containing tissues was next to her on the ground, according to a police report.
Abate had a cut on the back of her head and possibly suffered a skull fracture. When she arrived at the hospital, her heart was not beating and she was suffering from hypothermia. She was pronounced dead at 8:17 a.m., according to a report written by Detective Timothy Levesque.
Levesque noted in his report the walkway from the home was shoveled. Then, during Wednesday's rainstorm, "I believe the rain froze the walkway," he wrote. He concluded that Abate slid and fell to the ground causing the injuries that resulted in her death.
Attempts to reach members of Abate's family were unsuccessful.
