Mother of murdered 21-year-old Jasmine Dunbar speaks out

The search for Phoenix mother, 21-year-old Jasmine Dunbar, comes to a heartbreaking end.

When Fox 10 spoke to Tonya Smith yesterday, she was still hoping that her daughter was alive. Now, she is in mourning.

Smith did not imagine she would be in this position today, trying to understand why her daughter was murdered. Her ex-boyfriend, Antwaun Travon Ware, 20, is the one responsible, according to police.

"I can't, I can't get it in my brain. I have cried so much today. What was the reason?" Smith said.

The young mother was loved by anyone who crossed paths with her. Someone, her mother says, could make anyone smile.

"He took away life. He took love. He snatched it, like it belonged to him," Smith said. "Jasmine meant the world to me. She was my daughter. She was beautiful. She was smart. She was funny, goofy I'm telling you.

Court documents revealed just how brutally Dunbar was killed. Ware told detectives he picked her and her 7-month-old baby up on Tuesday night.

"I hate that I can't see her or hold her now," Smith said.

They were planning to have a paternity test done.

Ware told investigators he and Dunbar had a disagreement in the car, which led him to punching her in the face several times. He says he pushed her out of the car at a field near Camelback and 107th Avenue.

He went to drop the baby off on a nearby street, and then came back to the field where Dunbar was left. He told investigators he poured gasoline on her, and set her on fire.

"I hate that I couldn't be there to protect her, cause that's what every mother wants to do is protect their child. And I couldn't be there to do that. That's a regret I'll have to carry on," Smith said.

Ware is being held on a $1 million bond. Friends and family of Dunbar have set up GoFundMe pages for both a funeral and to help take care of her 7-month-old daughter who she is survived by.