ROANOKE, Va. – According to a search warrant, Sunday's homicide may have been the result of a home break-in.
Salonya Evans is a smiling 24-year-old with a whole life of helping others as a nurse ahead of her, but in the early morning hours of Sunday, that was taken from her.
Around 1:15 a.m., Evans was found shot to death on the sidewalk outside a home in the 900 block of Morehead Avenue.
According to a search warrant for the home, Evans' boyfriend lives there and she is his live-in girlfriend.
Almost as soon as police arrived at the scene, the warrant says, Evans' boyfriend -- who is not named in the warrant -- showed up, telling officers he had just arrived home and found it broken into and his girlfriend missing.
Investigators searched the home for blood, hair, fibers, fingerprints, DNA, blood-stained clothes, guns, bullets, shell casings, items used to cause injury, paperwork showing ownership or occupancy and electronic devices that may contain evidence.
They took a cellphone, tablet and gun, but the warrant does not say what they found on the tablet or cellphone.
Evans' obituary describes her as incredibly intelligent, motivated and positive.
That's not a surprise, then, when her mission in life was to help others working as nursing assistant at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Evans' funeral is scheduled to be held at noon on Friday at Washington Street Baptist Church in Bedford.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Roanoke Police Department said the case is still under investigation and investigators are following up on leads.
A prayer vigil is scheduled to be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Melrose Park in Roanoke.