John Jefferson
Inset: Beatrice Saintvil and her daughter Janelle (GoFundMe). Background: The car Beatrice Saintvil and her daughter were sitting in when they were shot and killed (WFOR/YouTube).
Two men in Florida have been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly gunning down a mother and her 4-year-old daughter earlier this year as they were driving on the state’s Turnpike late one night.
Beatrice Saintvil, 28, and her daughter Janelle were driving north on Florida’s Turnpike near Hollywood Boulevard and Mile Marker 49 when Antoine Harris, 28, and Jaquan Thomas, 29, opened fire on their vehicle on June 7 at around 11:15 p.m. and fatally shot them, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Cops charged Harris and Thomas each with two counts of murder on Friday, with Thomas being charged while behind bars in Georgia for unrelated crimes and Harris after he was arrested on Friday in Miami Gardens following a “months-long” investigation.
“Harris will be extradited to Broward County,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “Thomas is currently incarcerated in Georgia on unrelated charges and will also be extradited to Broward County.”
Transcripts of a 911 call placed by Saintvil on the night of the shooting detail how she was trying to talk to her daughter during their last moments together, which came while they were parked on the left shoulder of the turnpike.
“The caller kept stating ‘Where’s the baby,’ and ‘Get up, get up,” the dispatcher reported, according to Miami Fox affiliate WSVN. Janelle wound up dying at the scene, per police officials, while Saintvil died at a hospital.
Anyley Cabrera, a motorist who was coming home from work that evening and saw Saintvil’s car on the side of the road, told Miami CBS affiliate WFOR that the vehicle appeared to be decimated in a hail of bullets.
“The car was destroyed,” she said.
Describing the brutal nature of the double homicide, which has yet to have a motive attached, Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Claudinne Caro told WSVN: “This is one of those cases that truly breaks your heart. We’re talking about a mom and her 4-year-old daughter shot to death inside their vehicle.”
Authorities said earlier this year that investigators were looking into whether Saintvil and Janelle’s deaths stemmed from a road rage incident or if they were targeted.
“Detectives have more questions than answers and they really need the public to come forward,” Caro said in June. “Somebody must have heard something. Somebody could have seen something.”
Kyanna Librun, Saintvile’s sister, told Miami NBC affiliate WTVJ that she and other family members were desperate to get answers after the shooting unfolded.
“We want to know who did it,” she said after the incident. “We want to see their face and ask them why. Why? A 4-year-old baby girl and 27-year-old mother who never had a problem with anyone, why? We want to know, why?”
It’s unclear how Harris and Thomas were connected to the shooting, only that they are both charged with two counts of first-degree murder. A reward of $20,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest.
“Beatrice and Janelle had touched the lives of many with their warmth, kindness, and unwavering spirit,” reads a GoFundMe page launched by their family.
Their alleged killers are scheduled to be booked in Broward County’s Main Jail following their extradition.
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