Elizabeth "Candy" Laird  was looking forward to beginning a career in health care. the 27-year-old Detroit woman was weeks away from earning a degree as a surgical technician.

But those dreams — like so many others — have withered away as her family copes with what Michigan law enforcement authorities are calling a murder.

Laird’s body was found Wednesday, May 15, 2019 in a dumpster after a passerby called police after discovering blood in an apartment elevator nearby.

Suspect James Quill Cockerham, 50, has been arrested for the slaying, Authorities said that he has a long criminal history.

“That violent, predatory, cowardly suspect is now in custody,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters shortly after.

"She was a great young lady, and I loved her," Michael Hines, a family friend, told WDIV . "She had a bright future. She was going to school to be in the nursing field. She told me she was going to make something of herself."

A police investigation has revealed that Cockerham and Laird were seen inside the elevator together shortly before she died. She reportedly had gone there to visit her boyfriend.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Laird’s manner of death was compressive asphyxia .