BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — When Samantha Farah left Michigan to make her home in Minnesota a few months ago, her aunt Hattie Willoughby was sad to say goodbye to the quiet, introverted 24-year-old who she lovingly calls a "fellow nerd."
"When we'd watch series together, I'm kind of nerdy too, so we're going online and researching things," Willoughby said. "She was a very innocent and very sweet person."
Samantha moved to Bloomington with her boyfriend Nasri Ahmed Abdilahi, the father of her one-year-old daughter.
"As far as we knew, everything was going great for her," Willoughby said.
So imagine the shock when family in Michigan got the call that Samantha had been stabbed to death, dragged outside, and thrown in a dumpster -- allegedly by Abdilahi.
"We're devastated. To discard her body that way. It's horrific. It's something that will be in our family's minds until our last breath."
Just three year's ago, Samantha's only brother Michael died quickly from a rare cancer.
When her baby Aliyah was born a year ago -- for her, it was a God-send.
"Having Aliyah gave her a reason to live and someone to love. It helped her with her grieving," Willoughby said.
Police arrested Abdilahi after he led them on a 46-block chase in Minneapolis with the baby in the backseat.
Willoughby says little Aliyah is safe in Michigan with her grandma, providing family, in a way, a piece of Samantha.
"It does, because that's what it is. We also have a piece of him, if we're being honest. And what we do with that and how we foster that to greatness is going to take our whole village."