Friend Says Slay Lowell Murder Victim 'Loved Her Children with All Her Heart'

Friend says slay Lowell murder victim 'loved her children with all her heart'

By Robert Mills,

UPDATED: 05/13/2017 06:35:36 AM EDT

LOWELL -- Nicole White, the 44-year-old Lowell woman shot and killed in her Stevens Street apartment Thursday morning, was a stay-at-home mom to three children, according to a friend.

White, who's maiden name was Gamache, was the mother of 13-year-old twins -- a boy and girl -- and a 6-year-old daughter, according to a Lowell woman who has known White since 2009.

"She loved her children with all her heart," said that friend, who requested anonymity.

White's friend said she met White in 2009 at Lowell General Hospital's Center for Weight Management, which coincidentally is where the body of White's boyfriend and suspected killer, Elliott Ross, was discovered on Friday afternoon in the trunk of a car.

"We gave each other a lot of support and went through all of our classes together and just became instant friends," that woman said.

The friend said White was always happy when she saw her, though the two would often share their frustrations about the weight-loss process.

"She'd give you the shirt off her back, that's for darn sure," the woman said.

The friend said White rarely talked about Ross, who she knew only from Facebook photos posted by White.

She said she believes White lived with Ross at 1467 Gorham St., for a while, because White talked about taking walks in the nearby Edson Cemetery at the time.

The friend was surprised that White would have knowingly dated a man with Ross's criminal history.

But court records in Lowell District Court show that White, too, had a few brushes with the law, mostly due to fights with ex-boyfriends.

In 2013, she pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding on a charge of assault and battery on a police officer in connection with an incident on Broadway Street, according to court records.

Her sentence in that case was to continue treatment she had been receiving at the High Point Treatment Center in New Bedford, which treats both mental-health and substance-abuse issues.

In 2014, she pleaded guilty in two cases, both of which involved an ex-boyfriend other than Ross who she assaulted, once with a broom handle, and then in another incident with a piece of wood and metal poker, according to court records. She received 90-day jail sentences in connection with both of those cases, according to court records.

Family members have created a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses, as well as expenses for the care of her three children. Here's the link to the "Nicole Gamache-White Memorial Fund":