Veronica Smith died on Thanksgiving Day.
Police and her family say she was murdered by the man who claimed he loved her.
"She tried to leave you know. She tried but he didn't want her to leave and some guys don't want you to leave,” Veronica’s mother, Sonya Smith, told News 8. “He kept telling her I love you. I love you."
Her boyfriend of four years, Lendell Johnson, was arrested for her murder.
Sonya said her daughter had suffered years of abuse.
“When I used to go over to her house I used to break it up and get in the middle of the action and stuff like that,” she said.
But, like many domestic violence victims, she didn't leave.
She started to call police about the violence. First she called in September, and then the day before her murder.
According to a police report, Lendell Johnson called officers to his home on Thanksgiving Day and told them he had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend over the fact she called police the day before.
Police say he went and got a gun and shot her in the head.
“And you see it too many times when he thinks he is losing control of the situation and he wants to get back at her and it's really tragic,” Paige Flink, from the domestic violence support organization The Family Place, said.
Police responded to Johnson's home at 9 p.m. the night before the murder after Veronica called them about a fight they had over text messages.
Police arrested Johnson on an unrelated outstanding warrant and did not charge him with assault for that night because sources say they didn't have enough evidence something happened.
Sixteen hours later, Veronica was dead.
"I feel it shows there is still part of the system that we all can change and may save someone,” Flink said.
Dallas Police Internal Affairs is looking into the officers’ actions to see if anything more could have been done.
Domestic violence advocates say they encourage women to call police if they are being abused, but say they need to also have a safety plan in place.
"There needs to be more than one step, after calling the police,” Flink said. “Get to a safe place because you don't know how long they will be held."
Veronica Smith couldn't predict what was going to happen to her, but domestic violence advocates say when women decided to fight back it's not the end but the beginning of a long journey to free themselves from danger.