After spending every day together since they met months ago, the last thing Cera Wollgast expected her newest best friend Nicole Boover to do was try to kill her mother.

“She said she was going to see friends [in New Orleans], and she would be back in the morning for bio,” Wollgast said.

But Boover had different intentions, as her trip home ended on Oct. 8 with three bullets in her mother’s apartment door and handcuffs binding her wrists.

Wollgast said those close to Boover at the University are still trying to understand why their friend would try to kill her mother.

According to arrest records, Boover was planning to run off with inheritance money after killing her mother and stepfather.

“Assuming reasons why she did it, it’s painful,” Wollgast said.

LSU Police Department investigators also arrested Boover’s alleged accomplice in the murder attempt, University student Nathan Yuhas. Yuhas revealed to police during questioning that Boover offered $50,000 for his help, and the two planned to flee the state after the slaying.

Wollgast said she had met Yuhas a few times through Boover, but didn’t think they were anything more than acquaintances. The two girls had a “24/7” relationship, and Wollgast said she would have noticed if Yuhas had an increasing presence in Boover’s life.

To Wollgast, nothing seemed different.

“There was no events leading up to this. It’s a complete shock.”

Boover was the “free-spirited one” in their group of friends, exuding peace and happiness, Wollgast said.

“From the few months I knew her— it sucks that most people will learn who she is through headlines and mugshots. It’s a totally different person. If that’s the real Nicole, then I want to remember her as I knew her.”

Boover, charged with attempted first-degree murder, appeared before a New Orleans judge who set a $500,000 bond Wednesday. Yuhas faces charges for principal to attempted first-degree murder, after he and Boover bought duct tape, gloves and “Scream” masks modeled from the horror movie franchise. Yuhas’ bond was set at $100,000 on Thursday night, according to NOLA.com.

Arrest records provide a clearer idea of Boover’s alleged encounter with her mother the morning of Oct. 8. Hearing taps on the door, her mother peered through the peephole to find her daughter waiting outside. As she opened the door, Boover raised a silver handgun as a smile appeared on her face. She fired three shots after her mother slammed the door shut.

Boover’s step-father notified LSUPD that Boover was returning to campus, and she was later arrested in her room at Evangeline Hall.