The man who admitted killing a 15-year-old Pleasantville girl wants to get some time to see his baby daughter before he heads to state prison.
But his victim's family said Nahquil Lovest doesn't deserve that privilege. "It's painful enough that he's only getting 10 years," Fateema Bell said of the plea agreement her daughter's killer was given. "I have to go to Lincoln Memorial Park to spend time with my daughter."
Na'imah Bell was just 15 when Lovest shot her in the back of the head as the two and other teens hung out in a recently vacated Atlantic City home July 25.
Lovest, 18, has insisted it was an accident.
Bell's family isn't so sure.
Just weeks before the killing, Lovest was arrested for a robbery at the home of Bell's aunt, they said.
"The system failed," said Danielle Garrett, another aunt. "They fight more for the criminals than they do for the victims. At least in this case they did."
Fateema Bell said her own search of social media raised many questions, and she wonders why more wasn't done to find out what really happened the night of her daughter's killing. The family notes the time lapse between when gunshots were heard around 1:15 that morning, until police were called around 4:30 a.m.
They also take offense that by claiming it was not on purpose, Lovest has been able to get a plea deal that could see him free by time he's 26 years old.
Several family members were in court Thursday ready tell the judge about their loss and watch Lovest get sent to prison.
Instead, the sentencing was postponed for a second time, giving the defense the opportunity to put forth a motion to have a brief change of custody.
Bell's paternal grandmother, Linda Savage, said Lovest's family can visit him in prison, just like she had to do when she told her son of his daughter's death.
"I had to go to jail and tell my son through glass that his daughter was killed," Savage said. Anthony Savage, whose sentence in an armed robbery attempt is similar to the one his daughter's killer, was not allowed time out to attend the girl's funeral.
"He took a piece of my heart," Linda Savage said of her granddaughter, breaking down in tears.
When her only child went to prison, it was having her only grandchild in her life that built her back up, she said.
"She was my inspiration," Savage said. "I don't like people to see me cry because I'm a strong woman. I tell people that I'm alright, but I'm not."
Neither are the girl's three younger siblings by her mother, said Fateema Bell.
Bell also noted that her youngest child's father, Terry Bailey, was sentenced to more time on a gun charge in which no one was injured than Lovest faces.
Bailey is serving a 25-year sentence.
Lovest is set to be sentenced March 12, under a plea agreement that has him facing 10 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter.
It was not clear when a motion for release would happen.
"The state vehemently objects to this motion," Assistant Prosecutor Laura Heisman told the judge.
