Maria Anita Nicholson, 59, was fatally shot in her Daphne, Alabama, home on the morning of Friday, February 9, 2018. A long-serving employee who worked in a supportive role for the Daphne Police Department for more than a decade, she left home before 8 a.m. to go to work but returned after receiving a frantic call that her 26-year-old nephew, Donald Nicholson, was at her house and was discharging a firearm.

A neighbor and family member witnessed the incident and called 911 at about 9:10 a.m. Officers from the Daphne Police Department responded and took Donald Nicholson into custody without incident. Medical personnel pronounced Maria Nicholson dead at the scene, and Donald Nicholson was held at the Baldwin County Jail.

The community lost a well-known public servant in a violent family tragedy. If anyone knew Maria, her movements that morning, or has information about what happened at the residence, please share what is known with investigators.