On Saturday morning, investigators found Torie Carpenter, 22, shot to death inside her Cyprus Court apartment, where she lived with her two children, ages 1 and 2.
Authorities discovered Carpenter after someone saw a child with blood on his clothing wandering around outside the apartment.
Selma police spent most of Monday interviewing witnesses and looking for the person responsible. One witness said he saw a red car speeding away from the apartment building.
The Selma Housing Authority, which maintains the apartment complex, said Monday that Carpenter never gave officials any problems. Friends and neighbors were also trying to make sense of the shooting.
"Why would anyone want to hurt an innocent person?" asked neighbor Bernita Dunn, who lives below Carpenter's apartment. "She (didn't) bother no one. She stayed in the house, she didn't come out."
Police would not discuss their suspicions or a possible motive.
Court records show Carpenter, a single mother, had tried to get child support for her children and was working with child support enforcement to identify and locate their fathers. Records show that in 2004, she wrongly identified a man as being one of the fathers.
Carpenter's family is caring for the two children and asked for privacy as they plan her funeral.
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