Mother of 3 shot, killed in Waterford Township, police say

Victim identified as Ashley Rich, 26, mother of 3

WATERFORD, Mich.Police are investigating after a woman was found shot to death Sunday morning in Waterford.

Police were called to the Ashton Pines apartment complex on Oakland Boulevard, where a woman identified as Ashley Rich, 26, was found dead.

Local 4 News has learned that Rich's boyfriend is in custody, but officials are trying to determine if the shooting was accidental or intentional.

The young woman's mother, Melinda Newcomb, insists her daughter was murdered .

Rich died inside the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. She was found with a single gunshot wound in her back.

Newcomb said her daughter and the boyfriend had a rough and sometimes violent relationship. She said even though she wasn’t at the apartment when the shot went off, she believes her daughter was murdered, based on previous threats.

"He has threatened to shoot her in front of me, multiple friends," Newcomb said.

Now she’s insisting the violence escalated to murder.

As police investigate the circumstances of the shooting, Rich's three children -- ages 10, 8 and 2 -- are without their mother.

"My daughter leaves behind three beautiful kids and a family that loves her and needed her," Newcomb said.

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