STATESVILLE, N.C. — It's been nearly a month since the mysterious death of 33-year-old Shelbie Smith, who was found dead at her home on Hickory Avenue in Statesville on June 1.
“You can’t wrap your head around it,” Cassie Smith, Shelbie’s mother, said.
The 33-year-old was just footsteps away from the person she loved most: her 4-year-old son, Gunner.
“She loved that boy,” Cassie Smith said.
Gunner woke up and couldn't find his mom. He had no idea what was going on.
"He may have seen her but he didn't recognize that it was his mommy," Smith said.
Investigators found Shelbie Smith dead inside the house. Statesville police and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation were looking into her death, but no further information has been released. It's still unclear what transpired.
Smith said her daughter took her last breath that night. She's still trying to catch hers nearly a month after the tragedy.
“I know she’s gone but sometimes I’m still waiting for her to come around the corner,” Smith said.
As Smith waits patiently for answers, she's sharing a message for all single women who live alone.
"I just don't think there's enough caution," she warned. "Trust your intuition or the hair on the back of your neck."
Smith believes being on high alert could have possibly saved her daughter's life. Now a mother is mourning her daughter's death and a 4-year-old is clinging to hope.
"How does any 4-year-old understand heaven or forever?" Smith said. "For a 4-year-old child, it's like, cool my mom is in heaven but I'll see her next week."
As the family continues to spread awareness, they’re asking for the community’s help to support Gunner.
WCNC Charlotte asked the Statesville Police Department for more details on the case. So far, those requests have not been answered.