Family members of Ngaire Tusi were in court Friday to face the man accused of killing her.

The court is requesting 2 million dollars in bail.

“My regret is I wasn’t there to protect her, to stop this from happening,” said a family member.

It all started on Nov. 18 when a woman was raped near the Tacoma mall. Police say the suspect was 22-year-old James Salanoa.

About 10 days later, investigators tracked Salanoa down before deputies shot him dead in South Hill. Then on Dec. 18, Ngaire Tusi, a 32-year-old mom with 7 kids was shot and killed at a Tacoma park.

“It’s a very sad and unfortunate incident where a mother was taken away from her kids,” said a spokesperson with Tacoma police.

Police then arrested 32-year-old Muhammad Salanoa, the uncle of James Salanoa who was the rape suspect.

Court documents say Tuci was helping investigators in the rape case. Detectives spoke to several people who said she was murdered as retaliation for providing information to law enforcement, according to officials.