A pair of dogwood trees were planted yesterday in memory of two women gunned down in a convenience store in Aberdeen this month in what police are investigating as a botched robbery.

Friends and relatives gathered at the Wawa store for the tree planting, sponsored by company officials, in memory of employees Melissa Pennington, 18, and Nancy Atkinson, 31. The two were shot to death March 1 in a crime that shocked the tight-knit community of Aberdeen.

The store, in the 200 block of N. Philadelphia Blvd., has become the site of a makeshift memorial of flowers, stuffed animals and letters, and had been closed since the incident. It reopened yesterday afternoon.

Pub Date: 3/19/99