Why gangster mum Lametta Fadlallah ‘talked to the cops’ despite knowing she would be a marked woman

A ‘fiercely loyal’ gangster mum who was gunned down on her way to an engagement party ‘talked to the cops’ to protect a loved one – despite knowing she would likely pay for it with her life. 

Lametta Fadlallah was not the type of woman to ‘snitch’, but would do anything in her power to protect those close to her, a friend told Daily Mail Australia.

So when she learned someone she cared deeply about was in serious trouble with the law, she reportedly contacted the NSW Crime Commission.

From that moment on, Ms Fadlallah, 48, was a marked woman. 

The underworld mum knew the price of speaking out – and spent her final days looking over her shoulder.

‘I think she knew it was coming,’ her friend said.

In the months before she was shot dead beside her hairdresser friend Amy Hazouri, 39, Ms Fadlallah installed multiple high-tech security cameras at her Revesby home.

Those very cameras likely captured the moment she was ambushed alongside Ms Hazouri as they made their way to an engagement party on Saturday night.

Gunmen fired at least a dozen bullets into the backseat of the Toyota 4WD they were riding in, killing Ms Fadlallah instantly. Ms Hazouri later died from her injuries.

In May she paid to have an advanced security system installed with at least three cameras facing onto the street where she was ambushed and shot dead

Ms Fadlallah was no stranger to the rules of the underworld, having been involved in in criminal activity – either through marriage or in her own right –  for many decades. 

She was well aware of the price of speaking to police.

‘As it was put to me, the killers don’t think they have broken any rules to stay away from women and family because that’s not why she was targeted. She is dead because she snitched,’ a friend said.

‘She didn’t deserve to die… She was a good woman and did everything for everyone, but they’re the rules. In their eyes, that’s something worthy of being murdered for.’

Ms Fadlallah had the security cameras installed in May after her white Range Rover was hit at both ends.

‘She was shaken up. Some of her friends would ask her what was going on… what was wrong. But she said nothing, she didn’t want to burden anyone.

‘Lam wasn’t being herself.’ 

She rented a tidy dark brick duplex in Hendy St, Revesby and her 16-year-old son went to a private school in the area

Amy Hazouri was also shot dead in the attack, while her 16-year-old TikTok star friend sat in the front seat of the car

A teenage TikTok star with more than 100,000 followers and her boyfriend were in the front of the car and witnessed the entire attack. 

CCTV footage from a neighboring property showed the gunmen tapped four times on the car window before firing any shots, reportedly ensuring Ms Fadlallah knew she was about to die.

The two young survivors are said to be traumatised. 

It’s understood the loved one she tried to protect is struggling to come to terms with her death and the sacrifice she made for their safety. 

Sources say they’re hopeful none of Ms Fadlallah’s associates will attempt to retaliate for the hit.

‘The little one is an orphan now, he’s got no mum and no dad,’ one source said of her youngest son, who recently turned 16.

He has a close relationship with Ms Fadlallah’s adult son Ibrahim from her first marriage with reformed gangster Shadi Derbas.

Ms Fadlallah had grown increasingly concerned in recent months that there was a target on her back

Ms Fadlallah was killed as she left her house to attend an engagement party at the Massaya Lebanese restaurant

Both Mr Derbas and Ms Fadlallah were desperate to keep Ibrahim safe and out of trouble throughout their marriage and in the years since.

They maintained a friendship even when they both moved on with new partners and it’s understood Ms Fadlallah was still considered part of the family.

‘If she ever loved you, she loved you forever,’ a friend said. ‘She wouldn’t give up on anyone.’

The friend also criticised the decision to portray Ms Fadlallah as a serious criminal and gangster in the days since her death. 

She had ‘made some questionable decisions’ but wore her heart on her sleeve and worked with ‘what she had’.

‘She married into the life… That doesn’t make her evil. Knowing evil people doesn’t make you evil yourself.’ 

Her hairdresser friend, Amy Hazouri, was also killed during the attack

A car was found burnt out in the nearby suburb of Panania shortly after the shooting