BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — In February of 2015, the Ford family dealt with a tragedy they hoped they’d never have to experience again. One Thursday, 21-year-old Brittany Ford was shot in the stomach as she fled across an apartment in Gate City. An argument outside the building had led to gunfire, striking Ford, police said at the time. Two weeks later, Brittany Ford was pronounced dead at UAB hospital. 

Now, almost exactly seven years later, the family has been forced to deal with death once again. On Thursday, Brittany Ford’s mother, 49-year-old Felicia Ford, was found shot on the kitchen floor of a home in Cooper Green. She was pronounced dead at 4:24 pm, according to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.

Just before 4 p.m. Thursday, officers responded to a home on 14th Way SW, according to Sgt. Rodarius Mauldin with the Birmingham Police Department. Mauldin said officers found the woman suffering from two apparent gunshot wounds. A preliminary investigation, he said, has led to a person of interest who is currently being sought by police. 

Ford’s cousin, Paris Carvin, said that Felicia Ford had been in an abusive relationship and had been living with a daughter to escape the situation. On Thursday, she said, Ford’s boyfriend convinced her to come back. 

Carvin told CBS 42 Thursday night that Ford’s daughter, who is pregnant with twins, was speaking to her mother on the phone when she heard a gunshot. She notified police, according to Carvin, and headed to the scene. By the time police and her daughter arrived, Ford was dead. 

Carvin said that she’ll remember Ford, who worked as a security guard, as a great mom and grandmother. 

“She was very, very hardworking. She never bothered anybody,” Carvin said. “She was just loving.”