Janel Hamilton would have turned 20 at the end of the month, but now her family is making funeral arrangements for her.
Family friend Hashim Saeed Pew, 23, is accused of fatally shooting Hamilton and police and relatives are trying to determine why.
“She was so intelligent and so brave, a happy, pleasant, loving girl and I just can’t understand why this had to happen, but only God knows,” said Verion McGann, Hamilton’s great aunt. “They have no motive. There were no issues, no nothing.”
Hamilton was staying with her godmother in the Pew family’s townhome in the 2000 block of N. Douglas Road, McGann said.
The suspect also lived in the home. His mother is Hamilton’s godmother, McGann said.
Police were called to the home about 10 p.m. Tuesday where they found Hamilton’s body, according to Capt. Al Xiques.
“At that time, based on witness statements and evidence gathered at the scene, officers were able to place a subject in custody as a result of the shooting,” he said.
Pew was booked into Broward’s Main Jail shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday. He was being held without bond on a charge of premeditated murder, records show.
“We know the Pews are feeling just as sad as we are because it was her godmother and she loved [Hamilton],” McGann said. “She took her in her house to find her a job until school opened in January.”
In July, Hamilton had returned to Florida from England, where she had lived with her mother Beverly and attended high school, McGann said.
“Her mother is still in England and she just got the news,” McGann said. “It’s not good. She is desperate, lost, confused.”
Hamilton was planning to pursue a law degree at a state university in Kennesaw, Ga., in January because her school transcripts had not arrived from London in time for the fall semester.
So, Hamilton spent the summer working and living with McGann and her godmother.
“I’m so concerned about guns being in the hands of people like him,” McGann said. “That’s so sad.”
A .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun used by the suspect in the fatal shooting was recovered, police said, and it was identified as being stolen during a vehicle burglary in Central Florida in 2008.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
wkroustan@tribpub.com or 954-356-4303