Throughout the month of January, Heather Wood received multiple harassing and threatening text messages from her estranged husband, Christopher Wood. Though she was still legally married to the 51-year-old, they were legally separated and living apart. According to People, Christopher was confronted by police for stalking, but Heather regretfully never pressed charges. Ava, their daughter and a ninth-grader at Durgee Junior High School, went back and forth between her parents’ homes.

On January 20th, Mrs. Wood received a call from Ava’s school informing her that her daughter was reported as absent. She immediately recalled a cryptic text she received from her soon-to-be ex the night before that read, “This is how it ends for us.” Frightened, she called police to perform a welfare check, and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office sent deputies out to Christopher Wood’s New York home.

Inside the home, police discovered the bodies of Christopher and Ava in their rooms, each with fatal gunshot wounds. The murder weapon, a shotgun that was purchased 16 days before the murder-suicide, was found next to Christopher.

Ava, who was an honor student and soccer player, was known for her “competitive spirit and a love for life” as well as “for the strong relationships she had with family and friends,” her obituary reads. In order to support her mother during the tragic loss of her beloved daughter, a GoFundMe that raised over $50,000 was created to pay for the funeral expenses.

“She was kind, gentle, and had the most loving spirit, the fundraiser stated. “She loved her teammates and her friends and shared many memories on and off the field with them. She was deeply adored by her momma, and her family and she instantly stole the hearts of all those around her.”