RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s hard to put years of friendship into words when you no longer have that person in your life.
A neighbor of one of the Hedingham shooting victims gave it her best shot.
Robyn Miller said she has lived in the Hedingham neighborhood for 23 years.
On Thursday, five people were shot and killed in East Raleigh.
One of those people was Miller's friend, Nicole Connors.
“She was just a great overall nice person. Made friends everywhere, and there’s not anybody that didn’t know,” Miller said.
Family and friends described Connors as a welcoming presence. Connors' husband, Tracey Howard, said his wife was “a beautiful soul.”
Miller grew emotional thinking about what she is going to miss most about Connors.
“I think her smile. I think her laughter, her personality. Everything about her,” Miller said.
Among the dead were an off-duty Raleigh police officer, a fiancee and a teenager.
Investigators with the Raleigh Police Department said a 15-year-old boy opened fire in the community and the nearby Neuse River Greenway Trail.
The sound of chaos replaced suburban peace for Miller that afternoon as she was walking her neighbor's dogs home.
“As I was walking back, I stopped and talked to the neighbor around the corner, and all of a sudden we heard the gunshots,” she said.
Within seconds, Miller said they heard more gunfire, as her world became one big crime scene.
“I just started walking home. All of the cops were going by like crazy,” she said.
She recorded that craziness, too. The cellphone video revealed a barrage of sirens, flashing lights and honking in the streets where she lives.
“The cops were screaming, ‘Get in your house. There’s an active shooter out here,’” Miller said.
Between the shooting and the suspect’s capture, Miller ran up the stairs to the second story of her home. Miller documented more law enforcement activity on her iPhone.
“(I) just watched out the window. SWAT just walked through the yard,” she said.
Hedingham, on a good day, is calm and quiet.
Most back porches line fairways of the golf course where neighbors see people teeing off daily.
The streets are stacked with rows of country club townhomes. Yet the safety and comfort Miller once enjoyed no longer permeates the area.
“Then I heard about Nicole, and then it just went from there,” she said.
Connors and Miller became as close as neighbors could get for many years. The 52-year-old was known as a gentle heart, caregiver and loving spirit who at one time worked as a human resources specialist.
Two days after the shooting, the community came together at a vigil to light candles, lock arms and frame photos of the lives stolen from their neighborhood.
Miller wore a long-sleeve T-shirt with the words "Hedingham Strong" separated by the date of the tragedy between it. “It's such a good neighborhood. You’d never think there would be a shooting in here,” she said.
One common thread the friends had is their dogs. Chance, a rambunctious golden retriever, has been by Miller's side in time of need.
“We used to laugh about our dogs because her dog was always really, really loud and couldn’t stand Chance, and so we always laughed about that. She just called her a diva. A really good kid,” Miller said.
Miller said Chance was a saving grace when her husband died.
“I know what it’s like to lose a loved one, and Chance is kind of a second chance for me,” she said.
Now Chance is a saving grace after losing a close friend, because a beloved companion is hard to forget.
"She’s a great lady and we’re gonna miss her,” Miller said.
