A Fort Worth mother was murdered on her doorstep, with three young children inside and her killer is still on the loose. The victim's family is now sharing the story of the woman they lost and asking for help to find the man responsible.
It happened April 21st in the Providence at Marine Creek Apartments in Northwest Fort Worth. Fort Worth police have a warrant out for the victim's ex-boyfriend Christopher Manning.
Monday night, NBC5 spoke with the victim’s mother. She's in social work and told NBC5 she and her daughter had come up with a plan for her to leave the relationship. The tragic results show just how hard it can be to get away.
Day'zshia McKinley could light up a room.
"Her laugh is what I miss," said McKinley’s mother Yvette Robson. "It tickled you to your stomach and when you heard it, you just had to find the laugh."
But after dark two weeks ago, someone stole McKinley's light.
"He said ma'am your daughter's gone,” Robson said. “I don't remember what happened after that."
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Police suspect an ex-boyfriend, Christopher Manning, shot McKinley in the breezeway outside her apartment. Her three young children were inside.
"I honestly believe that she came out of the house to keep him from getting in the house with the kids," Robson said.
The pair had dated twice before. McKinley's mom says Manning was manipulative, but she never expected this. Now she wants him caught, afraid of what could happen next.
"They don't even want my grandsons to play outside because he knows where we live," Robson said.
Robson is now raising her grandsons with the painful knowledge they'll only know their mom through photos.
"She gave her heart to everybody she dealt with," she said.
One last gift shows the bond between mother and daughter, a photo McKinley gave her mother with a photo of each of them on the front and back.
"I saw the front and it said you and me the perfect pair, when you turn it around on the back it's me and it says sunshine of my life, thanks for being there," Robson said.
And Robson will be here carrying on for the daughter she's lost, but always with her voice in her ear.
"I keep hearing her say you got this mom," Robson said.
This the fourth murder in Tarrant County this year that investigators believe is related to domestic violence.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office started a new unit focused on these cases and they believe they are making progress. By this time last year, the county had already seen ten domestic violence-related murders.
