When Saleha Huuda showed up to try out for the UF Competitive Cheerleading squad, her smile immediately made an impression, and her skills as a flyer had her fellow cheerleaders fighting over who would be the one to catch her as she fell from the air.
She loved cheerleading.
She loved her dog, Vegaz.
And most of all, she loved to dance.
“She had love for a lot of things, but dancing, cheering and animals, that was her main thing,” said Ndyanao Horne, who knew Huuda since age 12 and considered her to be family. “That’s what she was really about.”
Huuda was found dead Dec. 30 after firefighters extinguished a brushfire off of county Road 225, a half-mile north of the Gainesville Raceway. She was 21.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating the death as a homicide, and expects that the medical examiner will conclude that Huuda was murdered, according to Art Forgey, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office.
To date, no suspects have been named in Huuda’s death.
“We were very close,” Horne said. “Words can’t describe [their relationship], especially for how long I’ve known her, especially for the things that we’ve been through and the things that we’ve done.”
She remembers bringing her dog, Bubby, to play with Vegaz, and watching movies rented from Redbox, which Huuda would let sit as she racked up large late fees.
She remembers the multitude of animals Huuda kept around.
In addition to Vegaz, she had fish, mice and a snake.
“She had a little mini-zoo in her apartment,” Horne said.
And she remembers her friend Saleha, the outgoing, cheerful woman who loved to dance.
“She really loved people,” Horne said. “She was really welcoming. She made people feel comfortable around her. She was a joy to be around.”
But Huuda had her serious side, as fellow cheerleaders remember her as a hard worker who would let nothing get in the way of her and a good performance.
“I thought she was an awesome flyer,” said Karen Richards, who was the person catching Huuda on her way down. “She was so tight. She knew exactly what she was doing.”
Richards remembered Huuda for her toughness as well, when she performed even with an injury. Despite urges from her squad to take it easy, Huuda would shed her sling and continue working.
“You always want to work with somebody that you know is trying their best and trying their hardest,” Richards said. “And she was that type of person.”
Richards also took note of Huuda’s love for dancing. Whenever the cheer team would go out together, Huuda could always be found on the dance floor.
“She’d dance to anything,” she said.
Even on a beach trip over spring break, Huuda was on the shores of Panama City Beach, dancing to nothing, just to dance.
“She was just always living for the moment,” Richards said.
A memorial service was held for Huuda Thursday afternoon, and Richards said everyone spoke highly of her — her personality and her smile.
Though she attended the memorial service, accepting Huuda’s death has been difficult for Richards.
“There’s no way something like that could’ve happened to her,” she said. “She was way too good of a person for that to happen.”
A candlelight vigil has been set for 7 p.m. Saturday in the Reitz Union Amphitheater.
Anyone with information about Huuda is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 352-372-STOP or the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office at 352-955-1818.
