{"id":62811,"date":"2025-12-06T20:19:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T20:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62811\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T20:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T20:19:05","slug":"cut-down-by-a-stray-bullet-amira-mccleods-memory-inspires-her-teammates-to-press-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62811\/","title":{"rendered":"Cut down by a stray bullet, Amira McCleod’s memory inspires her teammates to press on"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 19-year-old Queens woman<\/a> killed last month by a stray bullet as gunfire erupted<\/a> at a Long Island house party had met challenge after challenge her basketball coach laid in front of her.<\/p>\n

Damel Ling said he pushed Amira McCleod to her limits freshman year \u2014 so much so he wasn\u2019t even sure if she\u2019d even play again this year for Monroe University in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had the conviction to say, \u2018I\u2019m not done coach, I\u2019m coming back,\u2019 Ling, 47, recalled. \u201cAnd then all the things we talked about at the end of last year, she returned with and was a leader from day one, whether she\u2019s helping her teammates out, helping a freshman get acclimated. She did a complete 180.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pleasant surprise and a great transition to watch her bloom into a leader. That\u2019s what she was, and that\u2019s what she was becoming. She had the respect of everyone on the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Her promise was abruptly cut short. And, Ling and authorities said, the fight that erupted at the Hempstead party which wounded two others had nothing to do with McCleod.<\/p>\n

The fight erupted at the home at Willow and Kennedy Aves. on Nov. 22 when alleged teen gunman Jacob McMillan arrived with a small group at about 10:30 p.m., and the host, a 20-year-old Nassau Community College student, attempted to pat him down before letting him inside, News12 Long Island reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

McMillan, 18, pulled a gun at around 10:55 p.m. and fired twice, striking his adversary, prosecutors said. As he ran away, he fired a final shot, striking a second 20-year-old NCC student in his shoulder. The same bullet then continued on to fatally strike McCleod, an innocent bystander, in the head.<\/p>\n

The two wounded 20-year-old men were hospitalized and later released, according to WCBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s senseless. It doesn\u2019t make sense. She wasn\u2019t involved in it. She wasn\u2019t targeted. That makes it worse,\u201d\u00a0 Ling said. \u201cAs a society we\u2019ve lost our way. This is happening way too often,\u201d Ling continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in college and I went to parties, I never in my mind would\u2019ve thought, \u2018I\u2019m not going to make it home,\u2019 because of something like this. I\u2019m sure Amira didn\u2019t think when she left her home that night, \u2018I\u2019m not coming back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jacob<\/p>\n

Nassau County Police<\/p>\n

Jacob McMillan, 18, is accused of fatally shooting Amira McCleod. (Nassau County Police)<\/p>\n

Cops arrested McMillan, of Baldwin, Long Island, on Dec. 2nd for the slaying, and he was hit with murder and weapons charges, prosecutors said<\/a>. A Nassau County judge ordered him held without bail<\/a> at his arraignment the following day.<\/p>\n

McMillan\u2019s attorney Brian Carmody declined to comment on the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully the legal system will work its course and hopefully the right thing will happen and he\u2019ll get punished,\u201d Ling said of McMillan.<\/p>\n

Upon arrest, McMillan was also hit with a burglary charge for robbing a home on Locustwood Blvd. near 106th Ave. in Elmont on Nov. 16. The teen, alongside two accomplices, ripped open the screen on a bedroom window to get inside and made away with a PlayStation 5, prosecutors said. He was captured on the victim\u2019s doorbell footage wearing the same North Face jacket he wore during the Nov. 22 triple shooting, they said.<\/p>\n

When asked what he\u2019d tell McCleod\u2019s killer, Ling said, \u201cThe only thing I\u2019d want to do is ask him questions and the biggest one is why? And I don\u2019t think he can answer that right now. I don\u2019t think anybody would be able to answer why.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ling, who coached McCleod\u00a0for two seasons, remembered her as a strong-willed young woman who always had a smile on her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very strong-willed, strong-minded, stubborn at times, but stubborn in a good way,\u201d Ling said. \u201cShe had a very infectious personality. Her smile lit up a room. I think that smile is gonna be something we miss. Good, bad, or indifferent, regardless of her mood, you saw that smile when you walked in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Monroe University community is devastated by the tragic loss of student Amira McCleod<\/a>, a cherished member of our Express women\u2019s basketball team,\u201d the school said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cWe are in close contact with Amira\u2019s family, teammates and roommates, offering our full support as they navigate this unimaginable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on the day of the shooting, McCleod and Monroe-Bronx defeated Duchess Community College, 67-44. McCleod tallied two points, four rebounds and four steals in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did a little bit of everything for us. She would definitely sacrifice for the betterment of the team,\u201d Ling said. \u201cVery good defender. Excellent rebounder for her size. She was a jack of all trades.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCleod was in her sophomore year studying business administration at the Bronx college, and was set to graduate in the spring with an associate\u2019s degree, Ling said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted to run her own business. She was into fashion, so she wanted to open a sneaker store or clothing, or some type of combination of that,\u201d Ling explained.<\/p>\n

The coach said she was trying to get recruited to play basketball at a four-year college where she could continue studying to get her bachelor\u2019s degree. She hoped to go somewhere in the Baltimore area, to be closer to her mother, who moved there last fall, he said.<\/p>\n

Ling said he visited McCleod\u2019s mother, and her two younger siblings in the wake of her death.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Her mother is] as well as can be expected. I have two daughters of my own, I have no idea what I would be like mentally, emotionally and physically if something like this happened to one of my kids,\u201d he said. \u201cThe strength she is displaying, and the care she has for the girls on the team is second to none. We\u2019ve expressed to her that we\u2019re here for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her teammates have been leaning on each other while facing the sudden loss, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough. Overall, obviously the first couple days were extremely hard, a lot of tears, a lot of laughing, a wide range of emotions. It hits people in different ways at different times,\u201d Ling said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple people break down between the two games we\u2019ve had since this happened. Some people have broken down during the national anthem. These girls are showing resiliency managing it, standing together and walking through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

After McCleod\u2019s killing, her team was set to play Suffolk County Community College the following Tuesday, Ling said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school asked me what I wanted to do, I told them it wasn\u2019t my decision, it was up to the team. I put the question out there. Told them, \u2018No rush.\u2019\u201d Ling said. \u201cThey called me back in less than five minutes and said they wanted to play. They said she would have wanted them to play. They played for her and every game we play from now on will be for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach said the team is hoping to make it to nationals in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe girls have a newfound purpose and it\u2019s bigger than us right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 19-year-old Queens woman killed last month by a stray bullet as gunfire erupted at a Long Island…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,265,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-62811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-sub-county-region","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}