Ashley Yates.Photo:Ashley Yates/ Facebook
Ashley Yates/ Facebook
A Louisiana woman was shot multiple times as she was leaving work Friday in what police are calling a “domestic violence situation” before the killer turned the gun on himself.
Ashley Yates, 35, was found outside a store at Westport Village in Graymoor-Devondale around 8 p.m. on June 30, police said.
Ashley was transferred to University of Louisville Hospital, where she died of her injuries.
Schroeder described the killing as a “domestic violence situation. "
The victim’s brother, Andrew Thompson, toldWHAS11that Ashley “had every reason to leave the person who did this, and her life was threatened before, but she was stuck in a cycle and kept going back to this individual."
Thompson said the suspect “knew where she was going to be and what time she was going to get off, and he waited for her," he said, WHAS11 reported. “I believe she’s in heaven, and he will have to answer to that same God for what he’s done.”
Police said the suspect, who has not been publicly named, killed himself on Saturday.
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AGoFundMepage has been set up to help raise funds for Ashley’s funeral.
She was described as a “beautiful soul” and “big on her faith.”
“She was always talking about her walk with Christ,” according to the fundraising page. “Even at the top of her Facebook page she has written “Everyday is a gift from God; that’s why we call it the present”. She has taught us just how precious life and time on this Earth is. That tomorrow is never promised and boy, did she live everyday to the fullest. She did anything to make someone smile and laugh. When she loved she loved hard. Her time here will never be forgotten and we have all learned how to smile through the pain because of those memories with her. She’s our angel now and we rejoice in the fact that we will be reunited again one day.”
Thompson toldWAVE3that Ashley was his biggest fan.
”That was my best friend in a lot of ways,” he said. “We were always getting in trouble together, and she would come to my comedy shows. She was my biggest fan, and she believed in me. She was beautiful and kind and sweet to everybody, and she uplifted everybody.”
Schroeder says he encourages people suffering domestic violence to seek help.
“From a police perspective, we see a lot of domestic violence situations in the community, and we certainly encourage anybody who is a victim of domestic violence or suspect they may become a victim of domestic violence to reach out to the police or to any of the many agencies that would be glad to give them assistance,” he says. “That type of event was extremely unusual for this area, for that shopping center, but it highlights that things can happen everywhere. And as people, we need to go back to respecting each other and looking out for each other rather than using violence.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
