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Young mother believed murdered for $900 in grant money
Comments 0 | Recommend 0MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A Muskegon County family is still looking for answers after a weekend murder.
19-year-old Andrea Parnell was found shot in front of her apartment Saturday morning. She'd been shot two times in the head.
Detectives believe 17-year-old Antonio Ramsey is responsible, and now think it was all over a tuition check.
The crime is being talked about all over Muskegon, and there's a sense of anger building. A young mother, trying to get an education, murdered, and it now appears her education, more specifically her scholarship dollars, is why she was targeted.
It was Andrea Parnell's grandfather, Rodell Hadden, who found the victim bloodied at his doorstep of the family's house in Muskegon. He recalled her final words.
"All she said was 'my name is Andrea,' well who did this, and all she said was 'I don't know, I don't know,' that was it," said Hadden.
Parnell had been shot twice in the head and apparently had been dropped back off at the house after the shootings happened elsewhere.
"I really want to kill him," said Hadden, "I really want to kill him, he going to get his, he going to a place where somebody going to dog him out."
Days after the murder, the motive is coming clear. Investigators say that 17-year-old Antonia Ramsey shot Parell to get $900 in grant money that she received for her education.
Parnell was going to Muskegon Community College, and was described as a dedicated student.
"She knew she wanted to be a nurse and her mind was made up," said Hadden. "She went to school every day, no problem."
Parnell and Ramsey were apparently friends, but family members say Ramsey tried to rob the young woman, they say he wanted the money to buy drugs. Now, her loved ones are left with sorrow, never dreaming that a teenager would leave a 15-month-old girl without her mother.
"I just saw him come up a couple of times on his bike," said Hadden. "I didn't even know his name."
Parnell's family plans a memorial service for the young mother on Sunday at McGrath Park.
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