“She’s screaming out from the grave right now,” prosecutor Lauren Black told jurors after playing the 911 call during closing statements. The voices being defended in that Texas courtroom belonged to Amina and Sarah Said. Years earlier, at Lewisville High School, the sisters were known not for tragedy, but for their radiant presence. Amina and Sarah were remembered by peers and teachers as smart, popular, and deeply well-liked. Amina was an honor student with a brilliant mind. She excelled in science and dreamed of becoming a doctor to help others. Amina was highly intelligent and a passionate writer. She loved poetry, often writing about her hopes for freedom, love, and a peaceful future. Friends described Sarah as incredibly vibrant, outgoing, and bubbly. She had an infectious energy and a warm, nurturing personality that drew people to her. She wanted to be a physician. As the older sister, Amina felt a profound sense of responsibility for Sarah. Her friends noted that she often acted as a shield, attempting to absorb their father’s anger to protect her sister. Amina planned to attend University at Arlington with a $20,000 scholarship the year of her death. Both girls were in the top 10% of their graduating class while maintaining their athletic commitments. School was Amina’s way out, and she cared a lot about her education and future independence. Their history teacher, Renee Hopkins, testified that she saw them as two very different but intelligent minds. She described Amina as deeply reflective and Sarah as relentlessly curious. They enjoyed playing sports, such as Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, and Soccer. They seemed like a normal family outside their home. Amina and Sarah were raised where their father upheld strict expectations that circulated around his religious values as a Muslim. There was one important rule that the girls had to follow: they weren’t allowed to date. Under that culture, came control. Behind school walls, the girls weren’t allowed to go out, feared consequences if they were seen as disobedient, and were constantly monitored. Despite his abuse, they remained well liked at school, caring, and kind towards those around them, going out of their way to make sure everyone else was included. Joseph Moreno, one of her boyfriends before her death, quoted in a 2014 article, “Amina was beautiful. She had the most amazing green eyes I had ever seen. She was fiercely intelligent and full of spirit, and she always seemed to be smiling.” The two girls were destined to do great things, but their lives were cut short by the bullet. Yet, their story did not end in that taxi cab. Through documentaries, news archives, and photographs of their bright smiles and dark hair, the bond they shared endures. Even in the face of terror, the girls always had each other’s backs—a sisterhood that survived the worst their father could do.
