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Man Allegedly Hunts Down And Kills Teen Daughter And Niece, Who Had His Baby, After They Fled His Home
Vanessa Zaman was reportedly worried about her cousin Leona Samlall, who had a baby with Zaman's dad, Abdool Zaman. Both were shot to death in Virginia after they left his Florida home.
A man accused of killing both his teenage daughter and niece as they tried to flee his violence in December has now been indicted on capital murder charges.
Abdool Zaman, 39, allegedly killed his own daughter, Vanessa Zaman, and her cousin, Leona Samlall, both just 18. The teens were fatally shot to death near an apartment complex in Highland Springs, Virginia, WRIC in Richmond, reports. Zaman was arrested days later in Queens, New York.
Samlall had a 3-month-old baby at the time, allegedly fathered by Abdool, the Richmond Dispatch-Times reported in March. Samlall’s mother is married Abdool’s brother. Samlall was reportedly living with Abdool Zaman in in Orlando, Florida and Vanessa moved in with them in October.
At some point, Vanessa became concerned about her cousin’s safety so they fled to Virginia with the baby to stay with Samlall’s mom, the Dispatch-Times reports. They were there about a week before they were killed a block away from the apartment.
After his arrest, Abdool was extradited to Virginia from New York. A Virginia jury recently indicted him on two capital murder charges in connection with the teens’ deaths, WRIC reports.
Vanessa had been long estranged from her dad but “always wanted his love and for him to be a part of her life. When she turned 18 she got in contact with her father. Even after telling her countless times that he was not a good person, she still went ahead and moved in with him,” her mother said on a GoFundMe page.
She said her daughter died trying to protect her cousin.
"Vanessa took Leona back to her mom in Virginia, not knowing that her father was following her," she wrote.
