A former Nigerian beauty queen and PHD student, Nabeejat Sule has been shot dead inside her car, in front of her family home in Philadelphia.
Najee, as she is fondly called by friends and family was killed few minutes to 6:00pm on the 12th of March close to her 8800 block of Frankfort Avenue home.
Three weeks down the line, police have not unravelled the motive behind her killing and no arrests have been made.
The failure of the police has left family and friends searching for answers.
A friend of the former 24-year-old beauty queen, Magaji was one of the last people to see her before she was shot dead. They had spent the night at Magaji’s home eating snacks and watching Netflix together.
Less than 24 hours later, Najee is reported to have been exchanging text messages with Magaji in her Toyota Corolla when an unidentified man walked up to her vehicle and fired several shots at her.
Najee’s father, Adewale Sule heard the gunshots and emerged from the house just when the assailant fired the last shot at his daughter.
According to Mr Sule, “I saw the guy shooting my daughter. He shot the last round and I pursued him. He ran back to his car.”
Najee was rushed to ER at Jefferson Torresday Hospital where she was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.
Her mother, Tawakalitu Sule said she spoke with Najee only two hours before the shooting when her daughter asked when she would be returning home.
She had only recently earned a Masters Degree in Public Health from West Chester University and was pursuing her PHD. She is survived by two sisters and her parents.
Najee was crowned second runner-up at the 2019 Miss Nigeria International Pageant.
She is among the 120 people who have been killed in Philadelphia where analysts say that there has been a 29% increase in homicide rated compared with 2020.