Anthony Tyrone Antoine was Veronica Hughes' only son.
"This is like a nightmare,” Veronica Hughes said. “I never thought something like this would happen."
Antoine was killed outside an Aventura condo on West Country Club Drive on Oct. 31. On Wednesday, police arrested the two people responsible for his murder, Nicholas Singleton and Kevina Ferguson.
"I'm physically, spiritually and emotionally broken in every way you could think about,” Hughes said.
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Antoine and his girlfriend walked from their apartment to Turnberry on the Green to get a package from someone, police said. Singleton and Ferguson pulled up to the building and at some point during the conversation, Antoine texted his girlfriend that "he felt as if Singleton and Ferguson had come there to kill him," a police report said.
Moments later, detectives said Singleton shot Antoine twice, once in the chest and then in his head. The family said they've since talked with Antoine's girlfriend, who told them she was inside the lobby during the shooting.
"He likes life which he doesn't have any longer, who doesn't want to live,” Antoine’s cousin Paula Pippens said.
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Detectives said Antoine and Ferguson had conversations before they met up. Hughes said her son considered Ferguson a friend.
"You see a person's face, you don't see their heart,” Hughes said.
Antoine was a day trader and loved music and cars. He would've turned 38 next month. His family described him as playful, talkative and someone who liked to joke around.
"The Lamborghini he rented for my birthday, I didn't want to get in, but he told me, you have to learn to get in those things, mom, because one day you will ride in one, I'll get it for you,” Hughes said. “I guess it wasn't meant to be."
His family said there was never a dull moment around him.
"All we did was eat and ride around, eat, eat, eat, he'll feed me all day,” Antoine’s cousin Frejinae Hughes said.
"Always got something new to talk about when it comes to making money or trying to do better in his life,” Pippens said.
As the family tries to process this tragedy, they can only ask why.
"They should not be on the face of this earth, she took something from me,” Hughes said.
The family created a Gofundme to help pay for Antoine’s funeral service.
Detectives said they interviewed witnesses and watched surveillance video before arresting both Singleton and Ferguson in Miami. Singleton told detectives he was home at the time of the murder, and that Ferguson initially said she was also home but later gave a confession, police said.
Police are still investigating a motive.
