WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) -- Sharon Ross' sister says she was a wonderful sister, friend and mother.
Sharon was shot and killed over the weekend in Winston-Salem. Police say her son, 21-year-old Joshua Ross, is the person responsible.
Sharon's sister, Jewel Hawthorne, said Sharon and Joshua had a very close relationship. That's why Hawthorne was so shocked when she learned police arrested Joshua, saying that Sharon moved from New Jersey to North Carolina to make a better life for her two children.
Now the family feels like they haven't only lost Sharon. They feel like they've lost Joshua too.
"I still love him," said Hawthorne. "I just, you know, I want the best of whatever comes out of this situation and hope that you know, he gets help too."
Hawthorne said members of her family have spoken to her nephew since he was charged with his mother's murder on Saturday. Police said the two got into a fight over a gun in their home off Burke Village Lane in Winston-Salem.
"I do know he's hurting."
When asked if she thought the shooting could have been accidental, Hawthorne said she was "hoping" that was the case.
It's hard for her to wrap her head around the tragedy. "Hoping I'm just in a bad dream."
The nightmare turned into a reality when she learned her sister, who she talked to on the phone every day, wouldn't be calling her again.
"I just went numb," she said. "I just, I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I still don't believe it."
Those daily talks are what Hawthorne will miss most about Sharon.
"She was like my best friend," she said. "Just knowing if I needed someone to talk to, I could call her."
Hawthorne and her family are working to figure out how this could've happened because they know one thing.
"My sister loved her son, and I know my nephew loved his mother."
The family is working to make funeral arrangements for Sharon now. They're planning to have two services, one in North Carolina and one in New Jersey.