Family Of Murdered Bail Bondswoman Speaks Out
COLUMBIA, Md. (WJZ)—Her death rocked the quiet town of Columbia. Now the family of a murdered bail bondswoman is speaking out for the first time.
Weijia Jiang has the exclusive interview.
On Sept. 12, Nikki McNair, 42, was celebrating her youngest son's 15th birthday. At 10 p.m., she was shot and killed.
"I just want to ask him a question: 'Why?' You took someone's mother, daughter, sister, grandchild, aunt, godmother, friend away," said Toria Payton, victim's sister.
McNair's sister says that's what she wants the accused murderer, 21-year-old Dominique McDonald, to answer.
Police say he set up a meeting with McNair, who was a bail bondswoman.
She was trying to collect a $350 payment from McDonald on Sept. 12 when something went wrong.
"She didn't deserve to die like that," Payton said. "She asked him for her life, 'Oh my God. Please do not shoot me.' He shot her."
Family members say McNair was fascinated by criminal law, that she was pursuing a law degree. But they had concerns about McNair's work as a bail bondswoman—even though she loved her job.
"Maybe someone getting angry with her, with this happening. And the time of night she would go, sometimes she'd go 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. But she was a mother, a provider. So she did what she had to do for her children," Payton said.
McNair had five children, between the ages of 15 and 25.
Now they wait for what they consider justice.
" The death penalty," Payton said. "He took something from us that we will never get back."
McDonald is being held at the Howard County Detention Center on a $2 million bond.
