photo by: Contributed

Former Lawrence residents Christina McVay and her son Colin, 6, were killed earlier this month in South Carolina.

A Lawrence woman and her 6-year-old son who had recently moved to South Carolina for a fresh start were shot and killed earlier this month in South Carolina.

According to media reports out of Lancaster County in South Carolina, McVay and her son Colin were killed on March 9 by a 24-year-old homeless man, Theodore Sobieraj, who had been taken in by McVay’s father as an act of kindness. Sobieraj, who was killed by police in a standoff after the shootings, had been living in the family garage after he met McVay’s dad at church.

It’s not clear what led to the shootings, which left the small community of Lancaster, in north-central South Carolina, in shock.

McVay, according to friends, had moved to South Carolina last summer to be closer to her father.

Larissa Gasaway, a longtime friend of McVay’s, has organized a fundraiser on behalf of McVay’s two surviving daughters to cover any medical, funeral and burial expenses, “and to help her young daughters move forward as best they can after such a traumatic tragedy.”

“She was so genuine,” Gasaway told a South Carolina media outlet. “She had this incredible personality, a great sense of humor… always greeted you with a smile.”