LONGVIEW, Texas — On Wednesday, Rayleene Smithson was murdered while at her job at a Taco Bell in Longview during an attempted robbery.
Smithson’s daughters Emily and Dakota Brown say Rayleene was a motherly figure to so many in the community.
“There’s so many people that we’ve randomly met who's talking to mama that's calling her mama and we don’t even know who they are,” Dakota Brown said.
For them, it was an honor sharing the love of their mom to so many others.
“Everybody knew how she felt about us, it didn’t matter, it didn't matter what it was. When it came to us, she was going to be there. She was going to be there no matter what,” Emily Brown said.
She made her home a place where she could help those who needed it.
“She's had a ton of people she's took in, she helped. They needed a place to stay, she was there,” Emily said.
Rayleene worked as an assistant manager at Taco Bell for more than 15 years. When she wasn’t working, she was at home being a loving grandma.
“They love her. It's all about GG. They don’t want to spend the night anywhere else. It's always do you want to go here or GG’s we can't even finish the sentence and it's GG,” Emily said.
She was an Oklahoma Sooners and Longview Lobos fan who enjoyed dancing.
“ You hear music and it’s okay, we're moving, and I’m just over here like.. yeah,” Emily said.
Rayleen had aspirations of starting her own cake business.
“She made amazing cakes and she wanted to start a business doing cakes, we just haven't gotten to that point,” Emily said.
Eventually, Rayleene was planning on moving to Oklahoma to be closer to her mom before her dreams were tragically cut too short,.
There’s one thing their mom instilled in them.
“We’re gonna make it, just be strong," Emily said.
The GoFundMe can be found here.