As a star student and a promising athlete at her Mississippi high school, with college ambitions, it seemed that the sky was the limit for then-17-year-old Katie Stubblefield, her father said.

“She was driven for a purpose,” her father, Robb Stubblefield, told “Nightline.” “When she was a kid, she played soccer from the time she was, what, 4 years old? And she was not very nice at playing soccer … they used to call her ‘bulldozer.’”

In high school, Katie Stubblefield was a star student and a promising athlete with college ambitions.
Courtesy Stubblefield familyBut amid the stress of looking at colleges and looking ahead to graduation, the teen’s life took a detour.