BOISE - Just days after a tragic murder-suicide in Caldwell, the mother of the victim is speaking out about the domestic violence her daughter endured.
On Monday, investigators say 37-year-old Ian Stone shot and killed his longtime girlfriend Jaclyn Zabel, then turned the gun on himself.
"She gave everything, you know that's just who she was, she would have done anything for her kids and ultimately she gave her life," said Zabel's mother, Dawn Jantzen.
Jantzen describes the events leading up to the killing as strange and cold-blooded.
"He went to Albertsons, the store where my second daughter works, bought a single red rose, a Starbucks, posted a post on Facebook, went back to the house where my daughter was at, was let in, went to the basement, shot and killed her," Jantzen said.
Zabel and Stone were in a very tumultuous relationship, Jantzen said, and records show Stone had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery in 2007.
Stone was deaf, as was Zabel, who used a cochlear implant to hear.
"Well, he then broke her cochlear implant," Jantzen said. "If you have a cochlear implant removed you do irreversible damage, so at that point she had it done per his demand and she was back to being deaf."
Jantzen admits her children, including Jaclyn Zabel, were all products of domestic violence.
"My daughter didn't know anything different and I hate to say it but I was a very poor example, but I believed I was staying for the best interest of my children, and that is wrong thinking," Jantzen said.
Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, who is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence awareness and prevention, says children who witness domestic violence often find themselves in similar situations as adults.
"What we see and what we know today to be very true, you become what you see, you become that environment you grew up in," Donahue said.
The only way to break the cycle is to change culture, starting with young people.
"The key is to change the next generation," Donahue said.
And as for Zabel's four young children, Jantzen hopes to keep them together and give them a somewhat normal, and loving life.
"They are pretty lost little kids right now," she said. "I was able to speak to my youngest granddaughter and my second granddaughter this morning and they are definitely very distraught."
Jantzen has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for Zabel's funeral and to cover expenses for the children.
Ashley Beverage of Caldwell is also collecting monetary and non-monetary donations for the family. Information is at this site.