Molly Maid employee dies after being shot outside workplace in Apex; ex-boyfriend in custody

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- It was a tearful morning for some of Felicia Barbee-Battle's coworkers at Molly Maid, who hugged each other and cried as Apex police investigated her death.

They say she had worked with the company for a while and she always came into the office "bright and bubbly."

Now an ex-boyfriend is facing a first-degree murder charge. Apex police say 30-year-old Tevin Leach shot and killed 30-year-old Barbee-Battle in an isolated domestic violence-related incident in the back of Beaver Creek Commons Monday morning.

"There is no 'one answer' to to fixing this problem. It's not just something that the police can do or handle. We need everybody to really be involved in. We need some better resources that are out there for individuals that find themselves in these types of relationships," said Apex Chief of Police Jason Armstrong.

Police say the Barbee-Battle was inside the building when Leach came inside and asked her to come outside.

"I told her, don't go outside. I was getting ready to lock the door. I was going to lock the door. I was on the phone with 911 but then I hung up the phone. They called me back. I was going to lock the door. She told me it was OK. and I said, don't go out there. Don't have to go out there. Then she went out there and we heard the shots," said fellow employee Kim Chance.

She described Barbee-Battle as "bubbly, fun and hardworking." A mother of two, who they say leaves behind two young boys.

"She was really close to those boys. She just came here last week talking about, you know, how kids do. They get up. You know, drive you crazy. Just tell the story about what one of them did last week. And I said, well, they're just babies, Felicia. Boys are going to be boys. But, yeah, she's really going to be missed," Chance said.

Chance says Leach is not the father of Barbee-Battle's two children.

He faces a murder charge in addition to a string of arrests before for other charges including assault on a female.