Evansville mother-daughter shooting victims were close, widely beloved: Family, friend say

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Bobbie Rice made the best caramel cake.

"The way that it was all moist, it was just perfect," niece Marye Perry said.

Bobbie just had the right touch when it came to making desserts. Her family looked forward to them at their holiday gatherings.

"That's what I'm going to miss," Marye added.

Fifty-three-year-old Bobbie and her 23-year-old daughter, Whitney Allen, were killed in a shooting at their home in the 1000 block of East Chandler Avenue on the morning of June 27.

Bobbie's other daughter, 24-year-old Siddigga Allen, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to their deaths. She's being held without bond in Vanderburgh County's jail.

Those who knew Bobbie and Whitney said the pair was extremely close.

"Whitney told her mom things that I would never even tell my mom," said Brenda Buchanan, the daughter's best friend.

Brenda said they were a second family to her. It came naturally because Bobbie acted like a mother to everyone.

The two had a reputation for being goofy.

Marye recalled a joke Bobbie pulled with a white mask when she was a little girl visiting her aunt's house:

One night, Whitney and Marye were hanging out upstairs when all of a sudden the lights went out.

"I told my cousin Whitney, 'Man, where's your mom at? Where's Aunt Bobbie at? I don't see her,'" Marye said,

"Then we start hearing somebody coming up the stairs, and the next thing you know we see this white face sticking around the corner," Marye said with a chuckle. "She scared us so bad."

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Whitney was especially known to enjoy traveling with friends.

"We loved to shop," Brenda said.

They visited nearby cities such as Nashville and Louisville. Whitney had plans to see a concert in Indianapolis over the Independence Day weekend.

"I told her all she had to do was pay for her ticket," Marye said. "Everything else I was going to cover because that's my little cousin. I'm not going to let her be without."

Whitney traveled extensively around the region but had her sights set farther away. A trip to Florida was in the works for her birthday in August. She also thought about moving to Texas one day.

Brenda said she met Whitney on social media about two to three years ago. They hit it off almost immediately and grew into best friends.

Whitney was an incredibly loyal friend, Brenda said, almost like a sister.

"If I was doing wrong, she made sure I knew. If I was doing right, she made sure she told me she was proud," she said.

And Whitney got along well with pretty much everyone.

"She just had that vibe that everybody loved to be around," Brenda said. "Her and Momma Bobbie were close with everybody. Everybody loved them. Everybody's hurt."

That's why their deaths were so hard for Brenda to comprehend.

Marye said the gun violence has to stop.

"It's getting closer and closer to home," she said. "All I keep telling my family though is that we just got to take one day at a time."

Bobbie was born in Evansville and graduated from Central High School, according to an obituary she shared with her daughter. She was a member of St. James Missionary Baptist Church and enjoyed bingo and playing spades.

She gave birth to Whitney in 1996. Her daughter, who was remembered as fun-loving and fashionable, would grow up to become an adult caregiver like her mother.

A walk-through visitation for family and friends will be held at R. Mason Brothers Memorial Chapel starting at 9 a.m. until the family-only funeral service at 11 a.m. Monday. Masks and social distancing are required at both services.