The devastated family of a University of Salford student murdered in a drive-by shooting gone wrong have been presenting with her degree during the ceremony she should have graduated in.
Aya Hachem, 19, was halfway through her law degree when she was hit in the chest by hired hitman Zamir Raja, 33, in May 2020 as she walked to the shop from her Blackburn home.
The shooting, sparked by a long-running feud between two rival tyre firm owners, was arranged by 40-year-old Feroz Suleman, with his rival Pachah Khan the intended victim.
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Tragically, as Aya walked to her local shop to buy food for her family to break their Ramadan fast with that evening, she passed the target business as the shooter opened fire, with a bullet passing through her left shoulder before coming to stop in a telegraph pole.
Now, 18 months on, LancsLive reports that Aya's heartbroken mother Samar, and brother Ibrahim, have collected the youngster's degree in her honour from vice chancellor Helen Marshall at Salford University.
Samar was given a standing ovation when she was presented with her daughter's degree during the emotional ceremony.
Dr Janice Allan, Dean of the business school, said: “Aya was a bright and promising student with ambitions to become a solicitor.
"She was driven not by personal ambition but from a desire to help others and to speak for those who do not have a voice themselves.
"Aya touched the lives of many and, through her volunteering, contributed so much.
“Her tragic and senseless death devastated everyone who knew her, including our staff and student community.
"We were honoured to be able to present a posthumous award to Aya's family at today's ceremony and to share our memories of an outstanding student and humanitarian.”
Her brother Ibrahim told the BBC: "We are very sad as we would rather she was here with us.
"We knew she was going to graduate. It was going to be easy for her. She was very hard-working and an amazing individual.
"Seeing all the families here with the graduates is heartbreaking."
Tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman had arranged the execution of a rival businessman but the gunman he hired shot dead Ms Hachem instead.
Seven men, including Suleman, were jailed for life for her murder while Judy Chapman, cleared of her murder but found guilty of manslaughter, was jailed for 15 years.
Ibrahim added: "It has been unbelievably tough. Words cannot describe it.
"She was just from another world for us. She was like an angel."
Charles Knight, the associate dean of Salford Business School, said the university wanted to acknowledge what she could have gone on to achieve.
He said: "In this circumstance, Aya's life was tragically cut short before it should have been.
"It was really important for us as a community to allow her family to come and join us and celebrate her life.
"Aya was a really well-liked student, a bright student who would have had a fantastic future ahead of her."
Aya was a trustee with the Children’s Society and won Student of the Year at Blackburn Central High School in 2016.
She was also known to be heavily involved with Blackburn’s asylum seeker and refugee community.
