CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- Allison Tenbarge’s smile and laugh was infectious.

Her hugs were big, warm and fully embracing.

Her friendship was loyal and she loved her family and friends with all she had.

She wanted to follow in her dad’s footsteps and get into law enforcement, and she dreamed of being a Mountie police officer working with horses.

Allison loved music, was in the Harrison High School’s marching band color guard, managed the basketball and track teams when she attended Harrison High School.

She was so excited about becoming a new mother and had organized her unborn son’s clothes and shopped around for special items.

She was only 20-years-old and starting her life over in Evansville, Indiana, when her ex-boyfriend brutally murdered her and her unborn son, Parker.

Following a multi-day trial, her killer was found guilty and sentenced to life in jail without parole.

While Allison’s  life ended abruptly and tragically, she was deeply loved and a beautiful person. Her parents, Jami Carlson, her mom, and Kenneth Tenbarge, her dad, leaned on the memory of her life and the many family and friends who daily sat with them during the trial to support them.

“We leaned on family, friends, and supporters,” Carlson said. “Our victim-witness coordinator, Jemina, told me, ‘You have to do this. You are Allison and Parker’s voice.’ I had to be strong to see this through.”

Happy memories of Allison were easy to talk about for the parents. With smiles, they recalled her love for her two brothers, Austin and Alex. She was 10 years older than Alex and treated him like her little baby. Allison enjoyed being at both her mother’s home and father’s home and had a strong bond with them both.

She loved her three dogs and had a love for animals, especially horses. Carlson said she’d try to catch frogs and bring them in the house when she was little.

Her father remembers singing country music with her in his truck and her mom remembers their conversations after she’d wash and blow-dry her hair when Allison was young.

“She’d tell me her most intimate thoughts..we’d talk about everything,” Carlson said. “I’d tell her to look at the girl in the mirror and I’d tell her how beautiful, smart and important she was.”

Allison’s had a big heart and it was full of care and kindness for people.

“She was a beautiful person,” Kenneth Tenbarge, her father said. “If you were her friend you were her friend for life.”

To honor her memory an endowed scholarship fund has been established in her memory.

The Allison Tenbarge Criminal Justice Scholarship Fund will go to a woman who wants to go into law enforcement and specialize in domestic violence investigation.

“Since this has happened, I’ve been really studying domestic violence and there’s no one face of domestic violence,” Carlson said. “How it happens you never know who could become a victim. It’s unreal.”

The Allison Tenbarge Memorial Scholarship covers 17 counties in their area and once fully endowed will be a perpetual scholarship. To donate click here.

Each Thanksgiving in Allison’s memory, her family and friends pick a local charity and give gifts in Allison’s name. The Battered Women and Children shelter and 911 Give Hope in Evansville have been apart of the giving program.

While the trial has ended, the memories of Allison never will.

“She was a bright star,” Carlson said. ” You felt love from her and if she was your friend you knew it. She put everything into her relationships… What people loved about her is the thing that may have led to her death. She thought she could change him.  She was just a  light and she loved and was a true person.”