PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — It's been a tough day for Angel Tucker, who learned Friday morning that her friend Nicki Dinehart Peterson was killed overnight in Pleasant Grove.
“She was a very kind loving person,” she said. “'Family first' kind of, you know?” she added.
Police say Peterson, 40, was shot by her own son, 21-year-old Gage Anthony Dinehart.
“She was amazing; she was my person,” Tucker said. “My heart goes out to her family... her other children. It's a crappy situation all the way around.”
Peterson was a tattoo artist who worked to help others. She was part of a non-profit organization called Soul Survivor Ink.
"It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to one of the kindest souls to work with Soul Survivor Ink," Soul Survivor wrote in a Facebook post. "Nicki was such a generous and selfless person. She would often travel out of state to help cover up and remove the brandings from sex trafficking survivors. Even when she had a very busy schedule, she would find the time to help with our cause. Many of the hands upon our freedom tree are survivors she personally had worked with. She will be greatly missed among the Soul Survivor Ink family. We pray for her husband KC and that justice will be served."
Video below: Soul Survivor Ink founder/CEO Gina Jernuian shares what made Nicki Dinehart Peterson special:
FOX 13 News has also learned that she married her husband just one month ago to the day on Friday.
Tucker said when Peterson told her, she was “beaming” and that this was a truly amazing part of her life.
Police said Dinehart claimed to have been arguing with his mother earlier in the day.
Peterson's husband said Dinehart was in the couple's home earlier in the evening and appeared to be "agitated" and "demanding money from his mother."
"This is just a tragic, just tragic set of events,” said Capt. Britt Smith with the Pleasant Grove Police Department.
While Tucker is devastated, there is one thing that she is able to keep with her: a tattoo Peterson gave her that has symbolism for their friendship.
“It means a lot more, like I was talking to her and I was kind of nitpicking — 'We need to fix this. We need to fix that,'” Tucker said through tears. “It's perfect… it's done.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Peterson's family with funeral costs.
