Tetyana Leonidovna Tanya Nikitina was 34 when she was shot and killed in the Salt Lake Community Action Program parking lot in Salt Lake City on January 29, 2010. She had been leaving her job as a preschool teacher and was in her car preparing to go home when she was shot multiple times. The assailant did not flee the scene and called 911; officers found Nikitina in the driver’s seat and a 70-year-old woman, Mary Nance Hanson, waiting at the scene. Hanson was taken into custody and later arrested in connection with the shooting.

Investigators tied the killing to a bitter custody dispute. Nikitina had divorced Hanson’s son, Dale Jankowski, in 2005 and had previously filed for protective orders alleging cohabitant abuse. Hanson held a concealed weapons permit; prosecutors charged her with first-degree felony murder. In August 2010 Hanson pleaded guilty to that charge.

If anyone knew Tetyana, her work at the preschool, or details about the family’s custody conflict, please share what you know.