'An angel on earth:' Arts supporter, mom killed while helping sister with custody issue
Emily Christine Steinhoff, 44, died Sunday night, allegedly shot in the course of a custody dispute between her sister and former partner.
Posted — UpdatedSteinhoff was an enthusiastic supporter of the performing arts, a regular volunteer at Raleigh Little Theatre and the mother of a young son, Miles.
"That woman is truly an angel on earth," said friend Qualia Holder-Cozart.
When told that Steinhoff died helping her sister, Holder-Cozart said, "That's the type of person that she was."
"Everyone around her. anyone that she lays hands on, anyone she chooses to love, she's willing to sacrifice and give everything for."
Steinhoff and her sister, Hillary Lombardi, had gone together to pick up Lombardi's 14-month-old daughter from the child's father, where she had spent the weekend.
Neighbors told WRAL News that Dorian Thomas, 50, had only lived at the home for about a year.
Now he is being held at at the Johnston County Detention center without bond, charged with Steinhoff's murder. Authorities say that during the custody exchange, he fired a single shot. It hit and killed Steinhoff.
Michele Weathers, executive producer of Raleigh Little Theatre, said Steinhoff "just radiated."
"She was kind, generous, smiling, always," she said.
"She loved her son. She loved Miles," Weathers said. "She exposed him to every facet of life."
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