Jalayah Hackman
Jalayah Hackman
Jalayah Me'sha Hackman (1997-July 22, 2017) also known as Layah or LayLay was a 20-year-old student the University of Alabama. She was know by friends and family as an extraordinary, kind, beautiful, and responsible young woman. [undefined] [undefined]
Education
Jalayah was studying at the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama to become a forensic scientist. While back home for the summer in Jasper, Alabama, Jalayah Hackman had two jobs. During the day, she worked at Dairy Queen and then, at night, she was an overnight caretaker at a mental health facility. She was a graduate of Walker High School. [undefined]
Memory
"She was so determined to get out and do better,'' her father, Mike Hackman said.
"She loved life.
She loved her family."
Her aunt Sherae Williams said Jalayah wasn't the oldest of all of the cousins, but was the one everyone looked up to and depended on.
"Everybody looked up to her because she was the strongest,'' she said.
"She made an impact on everyone she came in contact with."
"She was way beyond her years,'' her father said.
"She was so responsible.
Everything was in order.
She had all of her priorities in order."
Family said she was always smiling, always happy.
"She never had a frown on her face,'' her father said.
Her father, Mike Hackman said he is relying on his faith to help him absorb the shock of his daughter's death. "The only sense I can make of it,'' he said, "is that I know God doesn't make mistakes." [undefined]
Williams said the entire family is taking the death hard.
Asked what she wanted people to remember most about her niece, Williams said this: "Just the joy and the love that she had for others,'' she said.
"She would put others before herself.
She was just so full of life.
She would come in and brighten up any room.
Words can't even describe her."
Death
On Saturday, July 22, 2017 Jalayah was fatally shot in the neck while trying to break up an argument.
Jalayah Hackman was in Yerkwood in Walker County, Alabama Friday night for a party. One of her cousins, who was like a brother to her, had a long-standing feud with another man and the two came in contact Friday night. [undefined]
"She saw what was about to happen,'' her aunt Sherae Williams said.
"She went and got to her cousin and told him to stop.
She was about to tell the other man to stop, but it was too late."
Family said they're not surprised she was the one trying to break up the argument.
"That's just how she was,'' Williams said.
"She was a peacemaker."
"She was at the wrong place at the wrong time,'' her father said.
The shooting happened at 12:22 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Church Street.
Walker County Sheriff Jim Underwood on Monday said the two men arguing have been identified as 22-year-old Keiel Natwand James, aka Lele, and Antonio Rossell Mongtomery, 21.
He said both men fired at each other, and Jalayah Hackman was caught in the crossfire. [undefined]
Witnesses reported hearing multiple shots fired.
Jalayah Hackman was struck in the neck.
She was taken by family to St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham and then transferred to UAB Hospital. [undefined]
James was taken into custody at his home on Church Street.
Montgomery was taken into custody by the Birmingham Police Department when he showed up at St. Vincent's with injuries he sustained during an altercation with others at the scene, the sheriff said. [undefined]
A third person also fired shots, he said, and is a person of Interest at this time.
James is charged with attempted murder. He is being held in the Walker County Jail on $250,000 cash bond. Montgomery is charged with first-degree assault. The charges could be upgraded following Jalayah Hackman's death. [undefined]
Her father said the bullets struck her carotid artery. Though they were able to repair the veins and get her blood pressure under control, the lack of oxygen was too much to overcome. "She had a massive stroke on the left side of her brain,'' her father said. "I think she was already gone though." [undefined]