The mother of the 20-year-old autistic girl who was raped and murdered by an alleged Hispanic gang member from the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) last year in Maryland awaits the maximum sentence.
In an interview with national media, Tammy Nobles remembered her daughter Kayla Hamilton as a kind-hearted and loving young woman.
“She was very confident, too confident. She could never see danger,” the woman told “Fox & Friends.”
The crime was reported in July 2022 when the suspect strangled Hamilton to death. The motive for the crime is unknown; neither was the relationship between the parties.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified because he is 17 years old, is originally from El Salvador and was in the United States illegally.
“I can’t believe a teenager would do this,” the woman told WMAR television.
In other statements to CBS, Nobles said she felt responsible for not being able to protect her daughter enough.
“Not only do we have to process having lost her, we also have to process what happened to her,” argued the mother.
In the relative’s opinion, the young man should be tried to the fullest extent of the law.
“I feel that if he did this at such a young age, there’s no telling what he’ll be capable of as an adult,” she said.
The suspect faces charges of first degree murder, rape and robbery. DNA material linked the Hispanic to the crime. The Salvadoran, who remains detained at the Harford County Detention Center, was arrested on January 15.
The suspect will be tried as an adult in a court proceeding in Aberdeen at a date that has not yet been set.
The murder was reported in a mobile home in Rancho Estates on E. Inca Street.
The victim had recently moved into the area with her boyfriend of 22 years.