Private Vigil Held For Woman Oklahoma City Police Say Was Killed By Her Ex-Husband

Sunday evening, friends and family gathered to mourn the loss of a local mother who was killed shortly before her son was taken by her ex-husband.

Her friends and family asked for privacy at the vigil, saying it's what she would have wanted. Oklahoma City Police are still investigating her death, but they have a suspect in custody.

“We're just trying to work through what happened and be as sensitive as we possibly can to their feelings," said Michelle Henderson with the Oklahoma City Police Department. "Our main goal after discovering what had happened was finding [the child] safely and that's what we did.”

Saturday, police responded to a home near SW 104th and South May following a neighbor’s call for help.

"The neighbors came over to check on going over to play and discovered all of this and that's when they called 911," explained Henderson.

OKC police say the victim found inside the home was the little boy’s mother. She was badly injured and later died at a metro hospital.

OHP issued an endangered person’s alert after police said the victim’s ex, Chase Ainsworth took off with the couple’s 5-year-old son.

Ainsworth and his unharmed son were eventually found in Southwest OKC near 119th and Rockwell.

"We did try to communicate with him for about an hour and a half," said Henderson.

Ultimately, police took action.

"We had an action team that went in and got the little boy out safely and then another team behind them that took the suspect into custody," said Henderson.

Now, friends and family are grieving and wondering how to begin to pick up the pieces. Sunday evening's prayer vigil was the beginning of a long road to healing.

On Monday, police are expected to release the name of the victim.

News 9 will bring you updates just as soon as they become available.

Related Story: Police: Oklahoma City Man Killed Ex-Wife Before Taking Boy