ROY, Utah -- The parents of a Riverdale woman shot and killed by her boyfriend say their daughter wasn't killed in self-defense, they believe she was murdered.
On Tuesday night, more than 200 people held a candlelight vigil to remember Jenna Manuel at Sandridge Park in Roy.
They said the candles were not lit to mourn her death, but to celebrate her life.
"Her attitude was so bubbly she would light up a room, always had a big smile for everybody," said parents Les and Carolyn Manuel.
Carolyn Manuel is going through chemotherapy. She was counting down the days until April when her daughter was coming to visit them in Arizona.
The Manuels got the news their daughter was dead early Monday morning.
"I'll never have a chance to say good bye," Carolyn Manuel said.
Police say 30-year-old Jenna Manuel was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Scott Sandlin, inside the couple's Riverdale home they'd been living there since October.
"I don't understand how, he said he loved her, and how he could just take her life like that," Carolyn Manuel said.
Sandlin told police he and Jenna Manuel got into a fight after the Super Bowl. He said Jenna Manuel attacked him with a knife and he shot her in self-defense.
"In my mind he was the aggressor and she just grabbed the first thing that she could," Les Manuel said. "To shoot her three times, I mean, once would have stopped her I'm sure."
Jenna Manuel's 8-year-old daughter was also at home, in another room, when her mother was shot.
"Her daughter was her life she did everything for her," Carolyn Manuel said.
Les Manuel agreed.
"Now this girl has to spend the rest of her life with that last image of her mom," he said.
Friends and family are anxious for the police to finish their investigation.
"Two people knew what happened and only one person that can talk about it," Les Manuel said.
Sandlin has not been arrested or charged in the case. FOX 13 News tried to speak with him Tuesday, but he was not home.
Jenna Manuel's family said it appeared the couple was in love, they never imagined something like this could happen.
"It took her a long time after her child was born to allow another man into her life and her daughter's life and then she met him [Sandlin] and she just fell for him head over heels," Les Manuel said.
Riverdale Police said they don't plan on releasing any new information surrounding the case until they get the autopsy results.
