reporter: 24 hours after sam dreher had been shot, his condition began to deteriorate rapidly. sam s sister, cindy, was there when the family decided to take him off life support. i hated it. i thought of him like he was one of my children. i loved him that much. were you able to be with sam? were you able to hold his hand and say goodbye? i did. what did you say to him? i made him a promise that the people responsible for his murder would would pay for it. reporter: the news of sam s passing hit dianne mcknight hard. in my mind i m still thinking, maybe there s still some hope that he can survive this. but when i heard that, i knew that i was never going to see him again. reporter: sam s great niece, aubrey cake, didn t make it to
24 hours after sam dreher had been shot, his condition began to deteriorate rapidly. sam s sister, cindy, was there when the family decided to take him off life support. i hated it. i thought of him like he was one of my children. i loved him that much. reporter: were you able to be with sam? were you able to hold his hand and say goodbye? i did. reporter: what did you say to him? i made him a promise that the people responsible for his murder would pay for it. reporter: the news of sam s passing hit dianne mcknight hard. in my mind i m still thinking maybe there s still some hope that he can survive this, but when i heard that, i knew that i was never going to see him again. reporter: sam s great-niece, aubrey cake, didn t make to it
i did. reporter: what did you say to him? i made him a promise that the people responsible for his murder would pay for it. reporter: the news of sam s passing hit dianne mcknight hard. in my mind i m still thinking maybe there s still some hope that he can survive this, but when i heard that, i knew that i was never going to see him again. reporter: sam s great-niece, aubrey cake, didn t make to it the hospital in time, but she made sure to be at sam s funeral. the bagpipes, i still remember to this day. reporter: did it make you really proud in that moment? yeah. i m still proud of him. reporter: full fire department honors were bestowed upon the admired young lieutenant. it was like the whole community came out to pay their respects. it was very humbling, very, very humbling. reporter: but along with the tears, there was tension. by now, sam s family and friends had learned danielle s lover had shot sam. no one could believe it, that she even had a boyfrien