Vigil Held for Woman Killed in Target Parking Lot

Friends and family held a vigil Wednesday night to fondly recall Mariam Folashade Adebayo, who police say was gunned down by an ex-boyfriend Monday in the parking lot of the Germantown Target store.

Montgomery County Police found Adebayo, 24, suffering from a gunshot wound; she died at a local hospital from her injuries.

The suspect in custody is her former boyfriend, Donald Wayne Bricker Jr., 27, of Hagerstown. He is charged with first-degree murder.

Detectives believe the suspect and victim had planned to meet in the shopping center to talk. The couple had dated for about six months and recently ended their relationship, police say.

Mavis Castillo, Adebayo’s aunt, told Montgomery Community Media that her niece graduated in 2013 from University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in public health. Adebayo had volunteered in the community, and was looking for a position in her field.

“She was a lot people’s best friend. A lot of her friends here came up saying ‘She’s my best friend’ … That’s how big her heart was,” said Castillo. Every time the door opens at the family’s home they wait to hear Adebayo say, “Mom, I’m home.”

Adebayo’s best friend, from high school, Stephanie Evans remembered the victim as her sunshine.

“She always saw the good in people, and unfortunately it was what led her to the passing,” Evans told the media outlet.

»Photos of vigil for Mariam Folashade Adebayo courtesy of Montgomery Community Media