The 19-year-old Queens woman killed last month by a stray bullet as gunfire erupted at a Long Island house party had met challenge after challenge her basketball coach laid in front of her.
Damel Ling said he pushed Amira McCleod to her limits freshman year — so much so he wasn’t even sure if she’d even play again this year for Monroe University in the Bronx.
“She had the conviction to say, ‘I’m not done coach, I’m coming back,’ Ling, 47, recalled. “And 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’s helping her teammates out, helping a freshman get acclimated. She did a complete 180.”
“It was a pleasant surprise and a great transition to watch her bloom into a leader. That’s what she was, and that’s what she was becoming. She had the respect of everyone on the team,” he said.
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.
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.
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.
The two wounded 20-year-old men were hospitalized and later released, according to WCBS.
“It’s senseless. It doesn’t make sense. She wasn’t involved in it. She wasn’t targeted. That makes it worse,” Ling said. “As a society we’ve lost our way. This is happening way too often,” Ling continued.
“When I was in college and I went to parties, I never in my mind would’ve thought, ‘I’m not going to make it home,’ because of something like this. I’m sure Amira didn’t think when she left her home that night, ‘I’m not coming back.’”
Nassau County Police
Jacob McMillan, 18, is accused of fatally shooting Amira McCleod. (Nassau County Police)
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 Nassau County judge ordered him held without bail at his arraignment the following day.
McMillan’s attorney Brian Carmody declined to comment on the case.
“Hopefully the legal system will work its course and hopefully the right thing will happen and he’ll get punished,” Ling said of McMillan.
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’s doorbell footage wearing the same North Face jacket he wore during the Nov. 22 triple shooting, they said.
When asked what he’d tell McCleod’s killer, Ling said, “The only thing I’d want to do is ask him questions and the biggest one is why? And I don’t think he can answer that right now. I don’t think anybody would be able to answer why.”
Ling, who coached McCleod for two seasons, remembered her as a strong-willed young woman who always had a smile on her face.
“She was very strong-willed, strong-minded, stubborn at times, but stubborn in a good way,” Ling said. “She 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.”
“The Monroe University community is devastated by the tragic loss of student Amira McCleod, a cherished member of our Express women’s basketball team,” the school said in a statement. “We are in close contact with Amira’s family, teammates and roommates, offering our full support as they navigate this unimaginable loss.”
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.
“She did a little bit of everything for us. She would definitely sacrifice for the betterment of the team,” Ling said. “Very good defender. Excellent rebounder for her size. She was a jack of all trades.”
McCleod was in her sophomore year studying business administration at the Bronx college, and was set to graduate in the spring with an associate’s degree, Ling said.
“She 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,” Ling explained.
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’s degree. She hoped to go somewhere in the Baltimore area, to be closer to her mother, who moved there last fall, he said.
Ling said he visited McCleod’s mother, and her two younger siblings in the wake of her death.
“[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,” he said. “The strength she is displaying, and the care she has for the girls on the team is second to none. We’ve expressed to her that we’re here for her.”
Her teammates have been leaning on each other while facing the sudden loss, he said.
“It’s 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,” Ling said. “We’ve had a couple people break down between the two games we’ve 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.”
After McCleod’s killing, her team was set to play Suffolk County Community College the following Tuesday, Ling said.
“The school asked me what I wanted to do, I told them it wasn’t my decision, it was up to the team. I put the question out there. Told them, ‘No rush.’” Ling said. “They 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.”
The coach said the team is hoping to make it to nationals in March.
“The girls have a newfound purpose and it’s bigger than us right now,” he said.
