This story includes the name and image of an Aboriginal person who has died.
Belconnen resident Kylee McHugh will be remembered as a kind and bubbly woman who was optimistic about life.
The news of the 46-year-old's death at her Wallcliffe Flats unit on May 18, which police now believe to be a homicide, came as a shock to her friend.
The man, who did not want to be named, said he had known Ms McHugh for five years and had spent time with her shortly before her death.
"I was stunned," the friend, who lived a short distance from her unit, said.
"We saw each other, probably every couple of months, every couple of weeks, said 'hello'."
He described Ms McHugh as a proud Aboriginal woman, a family-oriented person, a social and caring friend.
"She was generous, she had time for people that probably other people didn't have time for. She was a good person," her friend said.
"When you're feeling, at the end of the day, pretty shit, she could always pick you up."
Sharing a fond memory of the 46-year-old, he said: "Her house was immaculate, I'll give her that. We live in this shitty suburb, but you wouldn't swear you were in the same suburb when you got inside her place."
"She was always busy ... I'd say she didn't take time to sit around and feel sorry for herself or worried about her own problems," he said.
Firefighters were called to the fire at the Wallcliffe Flats unit on Osborne Place just before 7am on May 18.
Police said emergency services found Ms McHugh inside and tried several times to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The circumstances surrounding her death and the fire are suspicious and are being treated as a homicide," Detective acting Inspector Chris Watson of the ACT Policing homicide squad said on May 28.
A neighbour, who said she saw the 46-year-old nearly every day, said she was devastated by Ms McHugh's death.
"She was a happy person, very bubbly," her neighbour said.
"She was such a beautiful, kind, lovely woman. Despite anything that'd be going on, she'd always put a smile on your face or make you laugh. She will definitely be missed.
"You could tell she was dealing with some problems, but it wasn't anything to bring her down, she still was living life as if it was the best ever."
She said Ms McHugh "had a personality like no other" and would be missed.
"It's pretty distraught ... seeing someone I've seen every single day to never seeing them again," the woman said.
Homicide squad investigators have appealed to the public for information, in particular, about Ms McHugh's final days.
"We want to speak to anyone who spoke to Kylee in the three days before her death on May 18," Detective Watson said.
"We are also looking for dashcam and CCTV footage captured between 9pm on May 17 and 7am on May 18 in the area bounded by College Street, Haydon Drive, Belconnen Way and Eastern Valley Way."
