SAN ANTONIO – When Laura Carter, 33, was shot and killed in the winter of 2015 during what police said was a botched heroin deal, her family vowed to find a way to turn a horrible situation into something good.
A few months later, they decided to establish a fellowship at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where their daughter was a graduate student.
“We decided that we would set up a fellowship at UTSA in the College of Education and Human Development, where she was a master’s student,” said J’Ann Carter, Laura Carter’s mother.
“We have probably helped at least eight master’s students in the program,” she said. “Even though she couldn’t finish the program, we could help others who were walking the path that she walked.”
Carter’s father said that the only thing the family asks from recipients is something they say that their daughter did in her short life.
“You have to bring good into the world,” he said.
The Carter family is working tirelessly to help the fund grow and is asking for contributions from anyone who is willing to join them to make a difference.
Their hope is that the fellowship will one day be endowed so that their daughter’s name will always be remembered, not for her murder but for her contribution to education.