Minutes later, the man shot Smith and her fiancé multiple times in the first-floor hallway of their building, police said.
At 12:39 p.m. police rushed to the scene responding to a 911 call about two people who were shot, the New York City Police Department says in a release.
Officers found Smith unconscious and unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, the NYPD says.
Her fiance, who has not been publicly named, was “conscious and alert” after being shot in the torso and left arm.
The two were rushed to a local hospital where Smith was pronounced dead.
Her fiancé was listed in stable condition and has since been released from the hospital.
As police continue to hunt for the gunman, Smith’s family is mourning her loss.
“It’s been a horrific nightmare situation,” Smith’s aunt, Corine Booker, 33, told the Daily News.
Smith’s 18-month-old son, Uriel, was her whole world, Booker told the Daily News.
“She was very invested in her son and his future,” she told the Daily News. “I hate that he won’t be able to know how wonderful and how resilient she was. We just want to make sure to give him all that love.”
The 29-year-old mother of a 1-and-a-half-year-old boy told her fiancé, 26, what had happened, and the two rushed out of their apartment at W. 150th St. in Harlem to confront the man.