Quinetta Nobles first met Sheremy Dillard through their connecting backyards on Whistling Straits Way in Wake County.
When police showed up outside Dillard's home and began putting up crime scene tape on Thursday, Nobles was left shocked.
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"I said, 'Oh, lord, what's going on?' But I never thought something like this would happen," Nobles said.
Inside that home, police found Dillard's body with multiple stab wounds.
Dillard was a long-time high school basketball coach in the Carrboro-Chapel Hill City Schools district and began coaching at Felton Grove High School in Apex last year. Felton Grove's principal, Robert Morrison, sent the following letter to families:
"It is with great sadness that I write this message to let you know that our recovery teacher and girls' basketball coach, Sheremy Dillard, has passed away. Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. Please keep them and all of those that have been impacted by this loss in your hearts."
Jameeah Purefoy-Thaxton, a former player for the coach who had known Dillard since middle school, said it was news she never saw coming, adding that she had just spoken to the coach two weeks ago.
"At first, I was sad, I was so hurt, because my coach? The sweet lady I know?" Purefoy-Thaxton said. "Now, I'm more angry and confused, because why her?"
Dr. Bob Hill, former athletic director of Hillside High School in Durham, said Dillard used to coach the girls' basketball team. While there, he said she became a mentor to many of her colleagues and one who connected with her students.
Hill described her as a "shining diamond of her family" who went above and beyond for everyone. Hill said Dillard and her family are very well-known in the Durham area.
Family members told police that Dillard lived in the home with her boyfriend, Rickey Harper. When police found Dillard's body, Harper was gone. According to police officers, authorities in Pennsylvania arrested Harper on Friday in Plymouth. Police said Flock cameras assisted them in finding Harper after he fled the state.
WRAL News asked both Nobles and Purefoy-Thaxton if they had met Harper before. Both of them said they'd seen Dillard with a man before, but did not know his name, nor did Dillard ever bring it up.
"You never try to judge a book by its cover, but now we have to keep our guard up," Nobles said.
Harper is charged with first-degree murder in Dillard's death.
"I hope everyone in her close family heals from this," Purejoy-Thaxton said. "I hope they find peace in this, and I hope they bring her to justice, because she deserves it."