On June 18, 2016, 40-year-old Stephanie MeShawn Goodloe was shot multiple times inside her home on Kentucky Avenue SE in Washington, D.C. Her 11-year-old daughter, asleep in a nearby bedroom, was awakened by her mother’s cry and gunfire; the girl later saw a man walk past her open bedroom door and then found her mother unresponsive before making the 911 call.

Investigators focused on Stephanie’s 49-year-old ex-boyfriend, Donald R. Hairston. In the weeks before the killing she had obtained a temporary protection order against him after a pattern of domestic violence, stalking and harassment that reportedly included slashed tires, pounding on her door, theft of house keys and explicit threats to kill her.

Hairston was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed, along with burglary, stalking and violating a civil protection order. During the later trial Stephanie’s daughter testified about the night she saw a man in the doorway after the shots were fired.