lori bresnahan? >> reporter: lori bresnahan, a devoted single mom. >> she was wonderful.giving person. always very involved in her church. librarian in three different school districts once she adopted her daughter. her daughter was her whole life. >> you could see it when lori would talk about her. her eyes would light up and when her daughter would look at lori, the same, the same thing. >> just the pride and the love that, yeah. yup. >> reporter: after being carjacked at the shopping ll with her daughter, lori had been ordered to drive to a darkened, deserted area. >> he tries to strangle her with the zip ties. and the zip ties keep on breaking. >> reporter: new york state police investigator, todd grant. >> lori, you know, god bless her soul, is able to yell out "run and get away," to the ten year old. >> sir, can you see the mother at all? can you see if she's breathing? >> i'm going to check right now. >> reporter: she had been repeatedly stabbed and was bleeding heavily. >> she was in bad shape. real bad shape. nothing i could do for her except keep her comfortable