Those who loved Dina Ann DeMaio say determination defined her life.

"Nothing was going to stop her," said her brother, Vincent. "She was motivated. She had energy. People around here have a simple life, simple jobs. Dina wanted more, for herself and her son."

She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1991 and went on to be the first in her family to graduate from college, earning her associate's and then her bachelor's degree in court stenography from Johnson & Wales University in 1999.

DeMaio, 30, worked full-time for the last six years at Textron Financial Corp. in Providence as a legal secretary. The West Warwick resident was a single mother, raising her 7-year-old son with the help of her mother.

Last year, DeMaio started a master's program at her alma mater, studying to become a paralegal.

She took a job waitressing at The Station last November to make a little extra pocket money "so she could take Justin out, get him things," said her mother, Patricia Belanger.