The heartbroken parents of the murdered SUNY Potsdam student Elizabeth Howell Their daughter said she may have been accidentally killed “in the wrong place, at the wrong time” and she was shot outside the premises.
“She’s the kind of person who has no enemies, and of course no one wants to kill her. As soon as they told us, we found the wrong place and the wrong time,” his father Joe Howell told The Post in an emotional interview at the family’s Patterson, New York home.
Elizabeth, 21, was found lying with gunshot wounds on the side of College Park Road, state police said. He is a senior who studies music education at the school’s Crane Symphony Orchestra.
Howell and his wife Ann said their daughter was a very active member of her community, teaching swimming, lifeguarding and cello, playing ballet and playing in bands alone.
“She was a wonderful young woman, a talented musician, a loving friend, a great person. She was always ready to help you,” her father said.
He called his wife Ann Elizabeth “friend and daughter.”
“She’s very empathetic, empathetic – compassionate, that’s the word. She’s a good man, a strong man,” said Ann Howell. “She had a very innate talent.”
Howells are both musicians; Ann plays the clarinet and Joe plays the French horn.
Her parents said Elizabeth was one of four siblings. The couple, who spoke in tears, said they were encouraged by a strong community.
“It was tough. But we have a strong social base, and we have best friends and a strong family. It’s not easy, but it helps,” Ann said.
SUNY Potsdam canceled classes for Monday and canceled or rescheduled various activities due to grief over campus due to Howell’s death. The concert hall at the school’s Crane School of Music has been designated as a memorial to the campus.
Michael Snow, 31, of Masena, New York, was arrested Saturday and charged with felony criminal mischief, police said.
The school said Snow had no connection with the college. It is not clear whether Elizabeth and he knew each other.
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