Police Search For Killer of Young Mother

 View Larger

Police released this sketch of the suspect.

Heather Strube, 25, was getting ready to graduate from Georgia Perimeter College with a degree in business.  Instead, her family is making plans to lay the young mother to rest after she was gunned down in a store parking lot.

Snellville, Ga. police say around 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, 2009, Heather met her estranged husband, Steven Strube, in the parking lot located on Scenic Highway in Snellville to pick up her son.

Heather and her husband had been married for more than four years, but the couple was going through a divorce.

Witnesses told police that after Heather buckled her 18-month-old son into his car seat, a person wearing a wig and a fake mustache approached her.

The two argued for a short time, and the unidentified person shot Heather in the head. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

Police are now trying to piece together exactly what happened. They are hoping video captured by a security camera  will help identify the unknown shooter.

Investigators say Heather's husband has been interviewed, and he says he has no idea what happened.

Police say several witnesses told investigators that the shooter was walking around the parking lot for several minutes before the attack.

They describe the shooter as a white person, about 5'6" or 5'7", possibly 150 lbs.  Witnesses tell police that the shooter was wearing a laptop bag or computer bag around the neck area.

After the shooting, cops say the killer simply walked away. 

A Promising Future Lost

 View Larger

Police say Heather Strube was gunned down in a Target parking lot on Sunday, April 26, 2009.

Heather's friends say she had high hopes for her future. She was working as a wedding and events coordinator at "Flowers of Olde Town,"  a family-owned flower shop in Conyers, Ga.  She was raising a son, and was set to get a business degree in the spring. She had even considered going to law school.

Friends say Heather was a very generous person, and spent a lot of time volunteering at the Church at Covington as a youth adviser.

Her friend Tracey Dunn, told AMW that, "She was a very giving person. She opened her door to troubled teens and helped them through difficult times."

"She was a wonderful person," said Tracey. "She never had a bad thing to say about anyone, and she had no enemies."

While Heather's family and friends are struggling to comes to terms with what  happened, police are searching for her killer. 
 

Mother-In-Law Arrested For Heather's Murder

Heather's mother-in-law was arrested for her murder.
 View Larger
»More capture photos

Cops arrested Joanna Renea Hayes on Oct. 21, 2009 for the shooting death of her daughter-in-law, Heather Strube, in a Target parking lot.

Cops say on April 26, 2009 Hayes donned a wig and fake mustache and shot Heather to death just seconds after Heather picked up her young child from her estranged husband.

According to police, the child's father, Hayes' son, had just driven away after dropping off the child.

Hayes is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.