The suspect accused of killing Monique Hawes on an Augusta roadway has been captured in South Carolina, providing some relief to her family.
Samuel Patrick Howell, 41, of Summerville, S.C., was arrested Thursday in the county where he lives and held on a fugitive of justice warrant. He was wanted for murder and weapon possession in connection with the Aug. 17 killing of Hawes.
The victim’s younger sister, Lavonya Hannah, said Sunday that she had been informed of the arrest, but not a motive in the killing. The arrest comes just a week before Hawes’ funeral, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at C.A. Reid Memorial Funeral Home in Augusta.
“It’s a big relief, but there’s still that question: Why?” Hannah said. “Why would you do her like that? Why would you shoot her and leave her on the side of the road? I won’t have the relief that I need until he receives justice.”
Hawes, 53, was found fatally wounded on that Saturday morning on Dan Bowles Road in Augusta, about six miles from where she lived. Authorities say she had been shot, and she was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m. Aug. 17.
Video footage reportedly showed she was shot by the suspect while he was inside a vehicle, and she was shot during a drive-by on Old Savannah Road, less than a mile from where she was found. Multiple gunshots were heard in the footage, authorities said.
Hawes’ sister said everyone who knew the victim was aware of her struggles.
“She was on drugs,” Hannah said. “Everybody who knows my sister knows she was on drugs. But just because she was on drugs doesn’t mean she deserved to be shot on the side of the road.”
Hannah prefers to remember Monique as a sweet, loving sister who was fun and outgoing. She was one of four children, including Hannah and two brothers. Hawes graduated from Lucy C. Laney High School, where she was a cheerleader and competed in track and field.
Hannah has been celebrating her sister with a 20-year-old photo of them in a club, with Monique smiling with a group of friends during a Girls Night. It’s the photo Monique used as the main image on her Facebook page.
“We had so much fun growing up,” she said. “She was just life. To be around her was to love her.”
Meanwhile, Howell is being held in the Dorchester County Detention Center, pending extradition to Georgia.
“He took my sister’s life,” Hannah said. “He needs to be in prison for the rest of his life.”
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