HOUSTON, Texas — On the same day her daughter's accused killer faced a Houston judge for the first time, the mother of a murdered Nepali student Muna Pandey spoke about her daughter in an emotional interview.
She spoke about her only child with a U.S.-based journalist who covers true crime involving South Asia.
Anita Pandey said she escaped an abusive relationship with Pandey’s father and later raised money from the community to send Muna to America to get an education and have a better life.
“I had such high hopes for Muna; she was so bright,” Anita told the Kathmandu Post.
A friend of the victim's in the U.S. told KHOU 11 that Anita she had been trying to reach Muna since Saturday night. He's the one who had to call her to deliver the horrible news.
“Her friend informed me of Muna’s death early on Tuesday. I was devastated when the caller broke the bad news while sobbing,” Anita said. “I fainted as soon as I heard the news. I’ve lost my support, my everything. I don’t know what to do next; I can’t think ahead.”
Friends started a GoFundMe to raise money to bring Anita to Houston.
They say Muna had been working to help support her mother.
"She was supporting herself and she was supporting her mother,” said the manager of a cell phone store where Pandey worked who didn't want to be identified.
He's also from Nepal and considered himself a “big brother” figure to Pandey since they started working together as she took college classes as well.
"We used to talk about what she wanted to do with her life and everything,” he said.
He told us he knew something was wrong when the aspiring nurse failed to answer several text messages after leaving work at exactly 8:06 last Saturday night.
That’s less than two hours before a surveillance camera captured her accused killer, Bobby Shah, leaving her apartment.
He's charged with capital murder and accused of shooting Pandey four times, including once in the back of the head. The victim's mother wants the maximum punishment for Shah.
“The killer must be brought to justice," Anita Pandey said.
Court records also show Shah frequented a Nepali restaurant where Pandey once worked. That’s how her manager believes they met.
"He used to come in there, talk to the ladies working over there, give them big tips and all that,” he said.
Friday's court appearance was for related gun charges. Shah is due back in court on the capital murder charge next Tuesday.