Clutching photographs and fighting back tears, friends and family of Samantha MacQuilliam gathered at a viewing Wednesday to remember her for the person she was rather than the way she died.
“Sam will always be our little girl,” said Heather Kampmann, who cared for her at her day care center in Bowie.
“She came to us when she was only 6 weeks [old] and stayed with us until she was 11 years old.”
MacQuilliam, 19, of Gambrills, was killed last week at her apartment in Palm Harbor, Fla., where she lived with her boyfriend, Matthew Dieterle, 23, also of Gambrills. The Pinellas County Sheriff?s Office charged Dieterle for the slaying and is detaining him without bond at the county jail.
The viewing at Robert E. Evans Funeral Home in Bowie was a chance for many friends to remember MacQuilliam?s infectious personality.
“She was always smiling. You never saw her in a bad mood,” said Alysia Wells, who went to Arundel High School with MacQuilliam. The classmates were involved in the school?s mentor group to help freshmen adjust to high school.
Her friends from the University of Tampa and high school made MacQuilliam?s Facebook page a tribute to her life. Messages include apologies for not intervening in her turbulent relationship with Dieterle.
MacQuilliam filed a domestic violence complaint against Dieterle on May 12. A local pick-up order was released to notify Tampa police to arrest Dieterle if they came in contact with him, but they never did, said Tampa Police spokeswoman Janelle McGregor.
Pinellas County Police arrested Dieterle on June 20 for speeding awayduring a traffic stop, but the pick-up order was unbeknownst to them because it was only applied to Tampa.
The Pinellas County Sheriff?s Office had no record of any domestic violence complaints against Dieterle, said Pinellas County Sheriff?s Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.
“I now know that I need to do something and help girls in domestic violence situations,” Kampmann said Wednesday. “She was too young.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Funeral service for Samantha MacQuilliam
WHEN: 10 this morning
WHERE: Ascension Catholic Church, 12700 Lanham Severn Road, Bowie
