A sweet, strong, caring and compassionate woman who could light up any room is how many remember Karen Franklin.

“Karen was a selfless, sensitive, loyal, caring, and compassionate woman whose smile lit up every room,” her obituary read. “Karen was the glue that held her family together and her passing has left an enormous hole in the lives of everyone she touched.”

The outpouring comes as the Baltimore County Police Department announced Thursday that the deaths of the 59-year-old Owings Mills woman and her 63-year-old husband are being investigated as a murder-suicide.

Karen Franklin died by homicide, and Gary Franklin died by suicide, a spokesperson for Maryland’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Thursday. Their autopsy reports are not yet available.

Police were dispatched to the 3500 block of Avery Hill Drive, where public records show the couple owned a home in the suburban neighborhood, just before 4 p.m. Tuesday for an assault-in-progress, a Baltimore County Police spokesperson said. Upon arrival, police found Gary and Karen Franklin dead with gunshot wounds.

Funeral services for Karen Franklin are scheduled forwere held at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Sol Levinson in Pikesville, according to her official obituary, posted on the funeral home website. No further information on a funeral for Gary Franklin was available.

“His story ended in devastation, and that, too, is a loss to process in its own way‚" Eric Benzer said in a Facebook post shared on Karen Franklin’s page.

A University of Delaware graduate, Karen Franklin worked in account management, administration, bookkeeping, insurance and sales, according to LinkedIn, and she created content on TikTok for a few months last year promoting digital marketing as a pathway to financial freedom.

“She was a wonderful, cheerful person. She was a pleasure to work around as she was always upbeat and positive,” Richard Gottlieb, the president of Woodhome Insurance Group where Karen Franklin previously worked, told The Baltimore Banner. “She will be sorely missed.”

Jill Cohen, who said she has been Karen Franklin’s friend for 34 years, co-created a GoFundMe to help raise money for funeral costs and burial fees. Friends flooded Karen Franklin’s Facebook page leaving messages of sympathy.

“There are no words for such a tragic loss,“ Jill Sagenkahn Linkoff wrote on Facebook. ”You were full of strength, warmth, and laughter — and the way you showed up in the world will always stay with us."