Ada Mae Simmons-Jones, 45, was shot to death at her Southfield, Michigan home on Bainbridge Drive on the evening of October 5. Police were called just before 11:40 p.m.; they found Simmons-Jones deceased from multiple gunshot wounds. Her 77-year-old mother-in-law and her 3-year-old granddaughter were in the house and unharmed. The older woman said she heard three to four shots and someone leaving through the front door.

Investigators quickly focused on the victim’s daughter, 22-year-old Riley Donaldson of Cincinnati, Ohio. A purse left at the scene contained identifying information linking Donaldson to the home, and nearby security-camera footage showed a black Chrysler 300 arriving before the shooting and speeding away afterward. Police tracked Donaldson to the Toledo area and found the Chrysler in Detroit; she was arrested without incident in a CVS parking lot on October 6 and charged with first-degree murder and felony firearms.

Authorities say the apparent motive was an ongoing custody dispute: Simmons-Jones had legal custody of the 3-year-old after an August incident in which Donaldson allegedly took the child, the mother’s car, and a dog and fled to Ohio. Simmons-Jones had previously petitioned to have her daughter hospitalized for mental health concerns. Donaldson was arraigned on October 10 and is being held without bond. Anyone with information about Ada Mae Simmons-Jones or her daughter’s movements that night is asked to come forward.