Candace Pickens loved being a mother.
The 23-year-old Asheville, North Carolina, woman doted on her son, Zachaeus.
"When she found out she was pregnant, she was scared at first," her aunt, Irene Jenny Pickens, told The Washington Post. "But once she had that baby, it was so natural for her. She loved being a mother. And no matter what she was going through, I think he was the one thing that kept her going."
Her family told The Post that an abortion was not an option when she discovered she was pregnant with her boyfriend, Nathaniel Elijah Dixon's, child.
They suspect that Dixon's anger at his girlfriend's refusal to get an abortion led to her death.
Pickens was found dead by a jogger in a park May 12.
The Post reported that police said she was shot in the head at point-blank-range for her 3-year-old son to see.
Zachaeus was beside her, badly injured. His grandmother, Mekia Waters said he lost his left eye, but is making progress in the hospital.
"My grandson is in stable condition and doing great and he has the doctors surprised," Waters told the Post Wednesday. "He’s moving his arms and legs and he’s doing more than what people expected."
The Citizen-Times reported Dixon had a history of domestic abuse and violence, and police said he had ties to a gang.
Family continues to assert that Dixon was willing to take extreme measures to stop Pickens from having their child, according to WLOS.
But a spokeswoman for the Asheville Police Department told The Post officials can't comment on the reasoning because the investigation is underway, saying "that information is sensitive to the case itself."
Dixon was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral costs. It has raised over $8,000 of its $20,000 goal.
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