Whenever Mary Baker entered a room, she owned it.

Smart and confident, Baker delighted in knowing what she was talking about, whether the subject was forensics, serial killers, football, or auto mechanics, her sister, Rhonda Roque, said.

"She was very strong, very headstrong. You could ask her a question, she'd know the answer. And she'd always have the knowledge to back it up," Roque told The Providence Journal.

Baker, 32, a lifelong resident of Fall River, Mass., graduated from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, where she studied auto mechanics.

For the last six years, she worked at Rhode Island Ear, Nose, and Throat in Lincoln, where the doctors considered her more than an assistant.

"The doctors said they really couldn't replace her," said her husband, Warren L. Baker III, who said the two would regularly spar over who knew more about fixing cars.

Mary Baker loved watching shows about serial killers and forensics.

Her real focus in life was her four children, ages 9 through 12, and she would get excited watching them play and cheer for the local youth football team.

"During football season, she was running up the sidelines with them, screaming," said Roque.