Man Arrested in Murder of Teen Mom in Lauderhill

A suspect has been arrested in the murder of a teen mother who was shot and killed in front of her infant daughter in Lauderhill.

Jalil Allen, 26, was arrested Sunday and charged with premeditated murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm in the death of 19-year-old Nicole Grier, Lauderhill Police said.

He was being held without bond Monday and it was unknown whether he has an attorney.

According to Lauderhill Police, Grier had just picked up her child at a babysitter's home in the 3300 block of Northwest 18th Street when she was murdered on Dec. 30. The young mom was placing her little boy in his car seat when police say she was gunned down in the driveway. Grier's father insists he does not know the suspect, nor does he believe his daughter was the target.

"Never seen this man before, never heard of this guy before," Keith Bosket said.

Despite his heartache, Bosket offered some compassion for the man's family.

"My heart go out to his family, we hurting and grieving too," he said.

Joanne Jones, Grier's stepmother, said even though the child is just 11 months old, he knows something is wrong.

"He's been crying, he noticed that she's not around," Jones said.

Just this past week, Grier's entire neighborhood came together to remember a woman they describe as warm, with a signature smile. Her Fort Lauderdale block held a fundraiser where T-shirts and trays of home cooked food were sold to help pay for the young woman's burial. They plan to bury the young woman on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Church of God Prophecy in Fort Lauderdale.

"It's no closure because we don't know why. We just know that they took her life and we don't know why," Jones said.

"We can get some rest now, but the worst is yet to come," Bosket said.

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