Woman, 19, killed in Chatham apartment shooting was home on break from Michigan State University

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 19-year-old woman shot and killed in Chatham was home on break from Michigan State University, according to her family.

Chicago police said there is one person in custody in connection which took place Friday at around 9:50 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Maryland Avenue.

Lyniah Bell was spending the night at her boyfriend's apartment in the South Side neighborhood at the time.

The death is being investigated as a homicide because there was no weapon found on the scene, according to law enforcement officials.

Police said the incident was possibly domestic related.

Bell's mother, Evelyn Hightower, said her daughter was shot in the head by her boyfriend.

Bell's family said her teenage boyfriend beat her up and then pulled out a gun. A neighbor called 911 after they heard the gun shot.

"It is a shock to me that it was Lyniah and that he killed my baby probably over nothing," said Hightower.

Bell's family had been worried about the relationship, hoping it would end when she went off to school.

"I told her that I did not want her with him. But you can not tell somebody what to do," Hightower said.

Bell was on a full-ride academic scholarship at Michigan State, studying journalism.

She was also a graduate of North Lawndale College Prep.

In a letter to parents, the school's president and CEO, Dr. Garland Thomas-McDavid, said counseling resources will be available at the school on Monday and Tuesday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

While in high school, Bell was a National Honors Society inductee and belonged to the Theater Club and Hoops High. She was also a Peace Warrior and a CAPS student instructor.

"We just can't say enough good about the positive impact she had on the school community," the letter read. "She will be missed dearly, and our hearts grieve alongside her mother and family."

Police told ABC 7 there were multiple people in the apartment when the gunshot rang out.

Police interviewed them before early Saturday morning before announcing an arrest.

Charges are pending, according to police.

"It is bad that so many young girls lose their lives over men," said Georgia Wells, Bell's great grandmother. "If not the men doing it to them, they hang out with the wrong people. It is sad."