BATON ROUGE – A mother appears smiling, hugging her children in pictures taken during happier times and before her life came to a sudden end from gunfire overnight Tuesday.

The kids, all younger than ten, started Wednesday without the mother seen playing with them and smiling in pictures identified by neighbors. The woman, Robyn Hale, was shot to death in the doorway of her home after answering a knock.

Police said she was taken to a hospital but did not survive.

The shooting happened around midnight, early Wednesday morning. An assailant shot Hale on Grebe Street, off Scenic Highway and a stone's throw across the railroad tracks from Southern University.

When Hale was gunned down, her children were nearby – inside the trailer home.

Police said they are still trying to identify a suspect. Authorities said they are talking to numerous people about what may have happened.

Check back for updates.