Teen TikToker who witnessed Amy Hazouri and Lametta Fadlallah’s gangland shooting escapes to Lebanon
>
A teenage TikTok star who was in the car when two women were executed has fled to Lebanon as she attempts to deal with the trauma of witnessing the gangland execution.
The 16-year-old girl from Sydney’s south-west left Australia on Tuesday, just 10 days after watching on as her hairdresser friend Amy Hazouri was shot dead alongside 48-year-old gangland mum Lametta Fadlallah.
Before leaving home for the airport, the teenager stroked a framed portrait of 39-year-old Ms Hazouri and waved as she walked out of the door.
‘Come with me, take a trip to Lebanon,’ she captioned the video. Ms Hazouri’s body is believed to be in the process of being repatriated to Lebanon.
‘I said goodbye to everyone and flew away… I was a little annoying because I went through a very difficult period unfortunately.’
The teenager has been struggling to cope with losing such a close friend and someone she idolised.
The 16-year-old girl from Sydney’s southwest flew out on Tuesday, 10 days after witnessing her close friend Amy Hazouri shot dead alongside 48-year-old Lametta Fadlallah
After Covid enforced restrictions limited international travel, this marks her first trip back to Lebanon in years.
The TikToker noted her friends were ‘surprised’ to see her and filmed their reactions to share online to her 100,000 followers.
She hopes to reconnect with the ‘love of [her] religion’.
It’s unclear whether the trip to Lebanon will co-incide with Ms Hazouri’s funeral.
Ms Hazouri’s family is scattered across Lebanon, Austria and Australia and there is reportedly tension over where the 38-year-old hairdresser should be buried.
Most of her family, including her mother and sister, desperately want her body returned to Lebanon as soon as possible, but it’s understood her father would prefer she is buried in Australia.
‘If Amy is buried in Australia, it will make it impossible for all of us to visit her grave each year,’ her sister Manal Raunegger said.
After Covid enforced restrictions limited international travel, this marks her first trip back to Lebanon in years
Prior to leaving her home, the teenager stroked a framed portrait of 39-year-old Ms Hazouri and waved as she walked out of the door
Ms Hazouri was the sole provider for her family in Lebanon as they struggled with the nation’s ongoing financial crisis.
Ms Raunegger said Ms Hazouri was engaged to a man in Lebanon and was set to return to the country in November for their engagement party.
‘She had her whole life planned out, she was coming here for the engagement party, and then maybe if she likes it, she will open a hair salon and be closer to our mum,’ she said.
Ms Fadlallah, a mother-of-two, was the intended target of the attack after she allegedly volunteered information about the underworld to the NSW Crime Commission to protect someone she loved.
Police believe Ms Hazouri was likely collateral damage and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
More than a dozen shots were fired into the car before the driver was able to flee the scene and call for help.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named, was close with 39-year-old Amy Hazouri (above) and often spent time with her both in her salon in southwest Sydney and socially
Lametta Fadlallah was not the type of woman to ‘snitch’, but would do anything in her power to protect the people she loved, a friend told Daily Mail Australia
The teenager in the passenger seat tried to assist police with their investigation but did not get a good look at the shooters.
She shared a harrowing account of what unfolded and told friends and followers online she was struggling to come to terms with what she witnessed.
The young woman added she ‘is not joking about her experience’ and paid tribute to her dead friend.
‘Amy was very kind to everyone and loved everyone,’ she said in a short tribute on Instagram.
Police said the teenager, who has more than 100,000 TikTok followers, and her 20-year-old male friend are both traumatised.
‘They’re both incredibly shaken, but they’re uninjured… They’re assisting and they’re devastated,’ NSW Police Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said.
He added both young people were ‘lucky they weren’t also killed’ in the ‘incredibly violent, horrific crime’.
Earlier this year the teen made a short clip highlighting her favourite moments with the hairdresser, saying she hoped to be beside Ms Hazouri ‘all her life’.
‘I love you so much, you were always next to me when I needed you and I’ll always be next to you,’ she said in the message.
Ms Hazouri has been remembered as a sweet and kind woman who went out of her way to help those around her.
Lametta Fadlallah farewelled in intimate funeral after shooting
The two sons of slain gangster mother Lametta Fadlallah stood side by side to release white balloons and say their final farewells nine days after she was brutally shot dead.
Mourners gathered at Saint Charbel’s Monastery in Punchbowl on Monday morning to pay tribute to the ‘fiercely loyal’ mother-of-two.
Her eldest son Abraham did not watch most of the service inside the church and instead circled the grounds and listened to the sermon from afar with a handful of close supporters.
It’s understood he opted to remain outside during the Christian service because he follows the Muslim faith.
Lametta Fadlallah’s youngest son Ghazi appeared teary eyed as he made his way from the service. He stands with his older half-brother Abraham before releasing white balloons into the sky
Pallbearers carry Ms Fadlallah’s casket to a waiting hearse as her son Ghazi leads the procession
Inside, there was no mention of Ms Fadlallah’s alleged underworld connections or the brutal way in which she was gunned down on August 13 on her way to a party.
‘Lametta lived for her children. Even when times were tough, she spared no expense for her sons,’ mourners heard.
As soon as the ceremony concluded both brothers embraced, releasing gold and white balloons together and posing for photos with a framed picture of Ms Fadlallah as the remainder of the guests watched on.
Following the service, a smaller congregation of mourners attended Rookwood cemetery for her final burial. They released more balloons as her coffin was lowered into the ground.
He and his eldest brother Abraham shared a quiet and private word immediately after the ceremony
Balloons were released after the ceremony