When Tymel Fullwood proposed to Amanda Lawson in 2019, there was no fuss or fanfare, just a simple statement: “Put this ring on your finger because you know we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
And Amanda did.
They had met in June of 2016 when Tymel came around to visit his uncle, who lived a few doors down from Amanda. She had experienced a major loss six months earlier when her infant son died, and Tymel made her burden of grief a little lighter.
“That empty space I felt from losing my son, he completely filled it up,” Amanda said.
Now, Amanda’s grief is compounded. Last spring, they had been living with a relative in South Philly, but an argument resulted in Tymel and Amanda staying temporarily at a hotel in Delaware County. That was where Tymel fatally shot on May 17, 2021 in what police called an assassination.
A 42-year-old man has been charged in connection with Tymel’s murder, but a motive is unclear. Amanda believes others are involved.
“They took a very needed person,” Amanda said. “He was needed and loved by so many different people. They broke so many hearts.”
Tymel was born Oct. 14, 1985 and grew up around 22nd and Latona in the Point Breeze neighborhood of South Philadelphia. He had a difficult upbringing—his father was absent and his mother had fallen into addiction. When his grandmother passed when Tymel was 15, he and his younger brother had no one. As a result, Tymel developed a fear of abandonment that he carried into his adult relationships.
He became a father to his son Quasiir in his early 20s, and his son is now 13. Tymel was also the only father that Amanda’s daughter, Ariana, had ever known. She was one year old when Amanda and Tymel met, and she is now six.
Tymel was a demolition worker and loved his job. He was calm, cool and laid-back, and Amanda is the opposite, so they balanced each other out. He loved watching basketball and keeping up with his favorite players, and Amanda grew to enjoy the game, too.
“It became something we did together,” she said. “When the playoffs would come on, we would say, okay, on these days during these hours we’re doing nothing, we’re not taking any calls, it’s all game day.”
Spending time with family was important to Tymel, and he was especially close to his cousins James and Quil, who were more like siblings, and his Aunt Neecy, who was like a second mother.
Throughout their five-year relationship, Amanda learned to deal with Tymel’s quirks, like his food preferences. He wouldn’t eat anything that was too chewy, like steak, and he also wouldn’t eat anything too mushy, like mashed potatoes.
“He was one of the most difficult people I’ve ever met in terms of a lot of things,” Amanda said with a smile in her voice. “He would tell me, ‘You’re the only person who knows how to deal with me.’”
Amanda has so many happy memories with Tymel, but the thought that makes her smile the most is how much he loved her.
“That man loved everything about me,” she said with emphasis. “And everybody could tell. I literally could do no wrong in his eyes. And I loved him just as much. He was truly my soulmate.”
Tymel, who practiced Islam, is laid to rest at Friends Southwestern Burial Ground.
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
