(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
NEWMAN LAKE, Wash. -Family members are speaking out to remember Tina Stewart, the woman killed after a fight on Thanksgiving. Her boyfriend is accused of murdering her. Stewart was a mother of two and also cared for her niece and nephew. Court documents outline a savage beating at the hands of the man she adored.
"She may have weighed 95 pounds, but her heart weighed a million pounds," Don Estes, Stewart's uncle said.
He's one of many loved ones who say Stewart's death has made the world a little bit darker.
"Our lives will never be the same. We can't celebrate Thanksgiving no more. Not in the way we did," Estes said.
Thursday was supposed to be a day for Tina to celebrate what she's most thankful for. Instead, detectives say her boyfriend of two years, Nicholas Holden, viciously beat her to death. Her uncle says the news ripped their world apart.
"We were all down there with our family, and to get a phone call like that when we're celebrating Thanksgiving... Now we're in the process of arranging a funeral."
Now the family wants answers.
"Take a look people, this is what she looked like: 30 years old, taken at the hands of a man who said he loved her," Estes said.
Detectives say Holden confessed to shoving Tina down on the bed, kicking her and punching her in the face. Tina's loved ones hope her brutal end will serve as a wake up call.
"Speak up for her, speak up for the kids that are left behind. For the people they touch. No family should ever have to go through this," Estes said.
Tina's family is planning a balloon release for this weekend. They hope that it will continue to raise awareness for the many victims of domestic violence in our community.