Louise B. DeKler, a 98-year-old woman of Dutch ethnicity, died on March 29, 2009, at the Pine Lake Health & Rehab center in Carthage, North Carolina. She had moved from New Jersey to be closer to family, had been a homemaker, volunteered for Meals on Wheels in Morris County, New Jersey, belonged to Brookside Seniors, and enjoyed bowling. Her daughter Linda Feola described her as independent and lively, and she liked spending time in the nursing home recreation room.

On the day of her death, 45-year-old Robert Stewart carried out a shooting at the Pinelake Health and Rehab center. Stewart first fired in a parking lot at his estranged wife’s car, then entered the facility and shot residents at point-blank range. Eight elderly residents, including DeKler, were killed and two others wounded. Stewart was later found guilty of first-degree murder and received life sentences without the possibility of parole; his defense had argued a sleepwalking state related to prescription drugs while the prosecution said he was on a deliberate rampage.