She wanted to get away from her ex. Police say he then shot her outside work.

She wanted to help people, and Elajia Whitley wasn’t scared of blood. Her dream was to become a surgical technologist, and she had just enrolled in classes, her mother said.

Whitley, 21, also worked two jobs, wanting to support herself without help from her parents. She was a go-getter, and she had her favorite phrase on her car: Her vibe is beautiful.

“She’s just a vibe,” her mother, Marcie Uzomah, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Her favorite Bible verse was ‘God is within her. She shall not fail.’”

On Friday, her ex-boyfriend ended her life, shooting her as she was leaving work, according to Gwinnett County police. Whitley had made a plan to get away from the man, who had abused and threatened her, her family says. They said they believe that angered Caprice Hudson to the point of killing her.

“I left and I’m not going back,” Whitley had texted her sister days earlier.

Whitley had gotten off work Friday from her job as a phlebotomy tech at BioLife Plasma Services on Pleasant Hill Road, near Duluth. It was Halloween, and her plan was to meet her sister, Imani, and 3-year-old nephew for trick-or-treating.

But Hudson, 23, approached Whitley in the parking lot as she was leaving, according to investigators. Her family said Hudson shot and killed her while she was sitting in her car. He fled the scene around 3 p.m., witnesses told police.

Detectives quickly identified him as the suspect. By then, he was 140 miles away in Columbia County, according to police. Deputies there spotted Hudson’s car and attempted to stop him. He continued driving until they stopped him with a PIT maneuver, or precision immobilization technique.

“When deputies approached the vehicle, they discovered Hudson deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Gwinnett police said Monday.

Whitley’s family is devastated and says Elajia had been fearful of Hudson, who had threatened her and her family.

“She was scared,” Imani said Tuesday.

What happened to Whitley is all too common among victims of domestic violence. Experts say one of the most dangerous times for a person in an abusive relationship is when the victim is trying to leave.

In Georgia, more than 42,000 incidents of domestic violence were reported in 2024, an increase of 12% from the previous year, according to the latest figures by the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. In addition, the number of domestic violence-related fatalities increased by nearly 4% since 2020.

Whitley met Hudson while working at a UPS facility in Cobb County, and earlier this year he had attacked her at work, her family said. Police were called, but no arrest was made.

Whitley’s family said she had been with Hudson that day when they were involved in a minor crash. Whitley and the other driver determined there was no damage to either car, Whitley’s family said. But before the drivers could leave, Hudson grabbed a gun and fired shots, according to Whitley’s family.

His bond was set at $20,000, and he was ordered to not have guns or weapons.

Whitley believed, according to her family, that police wouldn’t be able to help her keep Hudson away. She had come up with a plan to get away from him that involved moving out of the apartment they shared, not letting him know her whereabouts. She had also planned to file for a restraining order this week.

Instead, her family is planning her funeral. A GoFundMe page has been created to assist with costs.

Uzomah said the family previously experienced heartbreak when their Louisiana home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and then her husband was killed in a car crash. She said there is some peace knowing Whitley and her father are reunited in heaven.

Uzoman remarried, and Whitley was close with her stepfather, Alfred Uzomah, along with her mother, sister and two brothers. The family wants others to learn from this tragedy.

“We really want to raise awareness for domestic violence for young women,” Uzomah said. “These young ladies feel like they have nowhere they can turn to get away from people like this.”

Whitley’s stepfather called her his guardian angel.