ASHEVILLE - Lavar Bailey struggled. So did his family, partner Tiana Jackson and their four children.

The family became homeless starting in 2013, juggling work, transportation, child care, school and various sleeping arrangements at an emergency shelter.

A Citizen-Times homelessness series documented their plight and perseverance — including how Bailey would work his night shift at a Weaverville Pizza Hut then walk 7 miles back to the shelter to be with his children in the morning.

Then they had a breakthrough. The family found housing at the subsidized Pisgah View apartment complex in West Asheville.

That seemingly good turn of events ended tragically Sunday when Bailey was fatally shot outside their home.

Police had not identified a shooter, Asheville Police Department spokeswoman Christina Hallingse said Wednesday.

Hallingse said police believe there was "a large group of people" present during the shooting but declined to give more details about what officers might know, citing the open investigation.

"Detectives are currently working to gather and validate information on this incident," she said. "As with any other open investigation, we are unable to disclose sensitive investigative details at this time."

She asked that anyone who saw or heard anything about the shooting call the police department at 828-252-1110 or Crime Stoppers at 828-255-5050.

The shooting was Pisgah View's fourth this year and the second one resulting in a fatality.

Bailey and Jackson were barely getting by in 2013, working fast food jobs with three children. Then the two saw their hours cut. Behind three months on their rent, they were evicted from their Weaverville home.

Bad credit and Bailey's criminal record, all for nonviolent crimes, made getting better work and housing harder.

They moved into a motel for more than a month but it was costing too much. Jackson was pregnant and, with their fourth child on the way, they went the Western Carolina Rescue Ministries shelter downtown on Patton Avenue.

It was there they lived for at least 15 months, working several jobs while getting the older children Zahmari and Aaliyah, both girls, to school and back and caring for the younger children, Lavarion and Lavar II, both boys and both Bailey's biological children.

Because of shelter restrictions, Bailey had to sleep apart from Jackson and the children. All of them had to vacate the shelter during the day.

It was during that time that people got to know the family and were struck by their attitude.

Hot Spot manager Beth Underwood said she would see members of the family frequently as customers at the Asheland Avenue convenience store and would see Jackson at Kentucky Fried Chicken where the mother worked.

"They were just good, hard-working people. You could see it in the way they dealt with each other, with the situation they were in," said Underwood who left the Hot Spot and now manages a different downtown store.

"I would have given her a job in a heartbeat. But she already had three."

Underwood described Bailey as a dedicated "family guy" and said the children were happy, well cared for and always with one or both parents.

"This breaks my heart. This family tried so hard," she posted on the Citizen-Times Facebook page after news of the shooting.

Others posted remembrances of Bailey as a hard worker and good friend.

It wasn't clear exactly when they got into housing. Western Carolina shelter director the Rev. Micheal Woods said he didn't recall when they made the transition. But a Jan. 31, 2015, "information only" police report, which indicates no criminal activity, showed an officer interacted with Bailey and Jackson at the Lee Walker Heights subsidized housing complex south of downtown. The report showed both their addresses as Apartment Building C in Pisgah View.

A call to a phone listed for Jackson on the report went unanswered Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Bailey was arrested in connection with what police said was a 2015 break-in at the Hillcrest subsidized housing complex in North Asheville. It was not clear if he was found guilty. Bailey has no record of incarceration with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Woods said people who knew the family were stunned following Bailey's death. The shelter director said Wednesday he was waiting for more details. After hearing about Bailey's death he said he tried to comfort the family.

"I heard about it (Monday) and went and spent time with Tiana and the kids. Everyone is in shock," he said.

Jackson told him that after being shot, Bailey stumbled into the house and died on the stairs with her and the children present.

Before that, Bailey had gone from temporary work with a waste management organization to full-time work with the company, Woods said.