Twenty-three-year-old Nishae Samms' mother knew something was wrong. She noticed that the front door was cracked open so she entered her adopted daughter's unit in Courthouse Green apartments in Chesterfield, Virginia, and made her way to the bedroom. What she found has haunted her ever since.

 Samms' mother found her 23-year-old daughter's body in the bedroom with her throat cut. Fortunately the victim's 4-year-old daughter was staying at her grandmother's place at the time.

More than two weeks after the horrendous crime, police identified a suspect wanted in Samms' slaying.

"Tevin McGougan is currently wanted for murder," Chesterfield Police Captain Jerry Netherland said, according to WTVR. "As with any fugitive from justice, police ask anyone who observes Tevin McGougan not to approach him, but to contact local law enforcement immediately."

People who knew Samms said that she was a mother first.

"Shae would do anything for that girl. She was a great mom,” friend Brittany Logan, told WTVR. “As a mother, I can't imagine."

While police had no immediate suspects, they found that there was some domestic abuse in Samms' past and that she had filed a restraining order against a man.

This passage from WTVR:

On September 29, multiple sources say there was a domestic abuse call at her then Richmond apartment. Around 11 p.m. that night, sources say the 23-year-old was strangled, thrown on the couch and a man she knew tried to suffocate her with pillows.We are told that man was arrested on a warrant the next day in Hampton after trying to purchase a gun at a pawn shop.

A GoFundMe account started by Samms' family says this:

"This account has been started to help with final expenses for Nishae Samms and to help her mother take care of her granddaughter (Nishae's daughter). 

Nishae was taken from her family and friends last week due to a  senseless act of domestic violence.  The Samm's family has experienced so much pain in the last fews days I am hoping that by easing some of thier financial needs they are able to grieve the loss of thier loved one.

McGougan has not been arrested and police need your help. If you have information about the case, call Chesterfield County Police Department at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.