'I can't die until Purdue wins one': Boilermakers fan, 92, has waited 80 years for NCAA title

Family remembers Army vet killed in south-side shooting as generous, good-hearted

Erin Mills recently had been hired to teach English at Emmerich Manual High School.

Erin Mills would be the first to offer a hug or a helping hand if she thought you needed it, her grandmother Carlene Coffing said. The kind of person who would go out of her way to bake you a cake for your birthday. 

"She was a good kid," Coffing said. "She didn’t deserve what she got."

Mills, a 34-year-old Army veteran, was found fatally shot in a south-side apartment complex early Sunday morning following what investigators believed to be a robbery that turned deadly.  

ROOM TO GROW: Butler University eyes expansion with purchase of Christian Theological Seminary campus

FALCON WATCH: Downtown Indy falcon chicks get names, ID bands

► INDY BURGER WEEK: Get $5 burgers from 43 Indy restaurants for one week only

Police were called to the 7200 block of Creekbrook Drive just after 1 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release. Officers on-scene found Mills in the street, her fiancé seriously wounded inside one of the apartments. He was taken to Eskenazi Hospital for treatment. 

Police have not released any information regarding what items, if any, were stolen. 

Mills' loss has left her family stunned. 

"Unbelievable," Coffing said. "You wake up and you think it was all a bad dream and I’m gonna talk to her after a while, and you’re not." 

Coffing said the last two days have been "terrible" for their family.

"You don’t expect your grandchildren to go before you," she said. "There's going to be a hole there now." 

Coffing, a member of Mount Pleasant Christian Church for more than 50 years, said she's been praying for help and understanding — and, sometimes, for the person who pulled the trigger.

"I feel sorry for the guy who did it; that he didn't know any better than that, that he felt he had to kill her," Coffing said. "I don't see why he had to kill her. Only he knows the answer to that." 

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477. Information shared with Crime Stoppers should be considered anonymous.

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.