Slain woman was family’s ‘glue’ — ‘We didn’t want her to go this way’

Ruby Steplight — the 83-year-old grandmother shot and killed in the kitchen of her Orlando home Saturday — was the “glue” that held her family together, loved ones said.

Steplight’s family gathered at the woman’s home Monday, where they said they planned to hold a vigil about 8 p.m. Being together has helped them cope with the loss of the family’s matriarch, they said.

“We just know she’s in a better place, but we didn’t want her to go this way,” said Nekesha Lee, Steplight’s goddaughter.

Orange County deputies were called to Steplight’s home on the 1700 block of 24th Street to reports of gunfire just before 3 p.m. Saturday. They found Ruby Steplight dead inside her home.

Four other people — including her 14-year-old granddaughter— had also been shot.

Authorities later arrested Billy Desrosiers, 29, on charges of first degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

According to an arrest affidavit, Desrosiers told investigators that moments before he killed Steplight, he thought about executing her granddaughter — but “decided she was too young to die.”

A beloved woman who reared three generations, Steplight was religious and selfless, said Wanda Jackson, Steplight’s exdaughter-in-law. She was the “glue” that held their family together.

“She always kept her doors open for anybody. She’d welcome anybody,” Jackson said. “She wasn’t a judgmental person or anything like that. She just loved them.”

Jackson said she and Steplight enjoyed shopping together and spoke frequently. Even though her marriage to Steplight’s youngest son ended in 2002, the woman remained like a mother to Jackson, especially after her own mother died.

“When I had a problem, she’d come over and she’d listen and she’d just look at me and say, ‘It’s going to be all right,’” Jackson said. “I’m going to miss that. They took something away that hurts.”

Desrosiers, who lives on 24th Street, was taken into custody about 11 p.m. Saturday. He told deputies in an interview he fired shots into Steplight’s home from the outside — then entered the house to kill her, the affidavit shows.

Desrosiers had recently moved into a house two doors down from Steplight’s, where she lived for about 14 years, according to Jackson. Hearing Steplight was targeted by him shocked the family.

“She was in the kitchen cleaning out her refrigerator when the man came into her house,” Jackson said. “And that’s just like— it just got us in awe… how could this happen?”

After he shot the woman, Desrosiers told deputies he walked back to his home and hid the gun in his attic. The caliber of the casings found at the scene of the shooting matched the caliber of the firearm found in Desrosiers’ attic, deputies said.

He told deputies he was angry because his girlfriend was injured in a fight with one of Steplight’s family members.

Steplight’s granddaughter was taken to Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies after being shot in the leg. It’s unclear how the three other people found with gunshot wounds were injured.

Authorities said Saturday they believed a black car pulled up to a group of people standing on the sidewalk outside Steplight’s home and shots were exchanged between the car’s occupants and the group.

Those details are still believed to be true, but are part of an ongoing investigation, according to Sheriff ’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson.

Desrosiers remains held at the Orange County Jail without bail.

The shooting came as a stark reminder for Jackson about the reality of gun violence. She said Steplight’s grandchildren are devastated by their sudden loss.

“Now as adults, we have to comfort them and get them to understand this is not the way. Because she didn’t deserve this,” Jackson said.

“That was my girl. That was my girl.”