“Jamey was a golden human being, the absolute best. She was a kind person, with a generous soul and a deep love and compassion for all humankind, especially for her daughter and her parents.”New Yorker Zheila Ommani is speaking of her friend Jamey Carney, the 43-year-old American woman who was found dead at her home in Killarney, Co Kerry, on Tuesday.Her body was discovered hidden under blankets at the house in the Homeland estate on Muckross Road, not far from Killarney National Park and the town centre. While Jamey Carney was the victim of an assault and suffered head injuries, State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan found suffocation was the cause of death.Originally from Westchester County in New York state, she is survived by her mother Kathy, sister Devon, and her 13-year-old daughter. Her father died 11 months ago.Jamey Carney and her child had lived in the rented house since December, about four years after they had moved to Ireland.Gardaí investigating her death are continuing to liaise with foreign police forces. They are trying to locate a suspect who fled the country within hours of the killing.Gardaí now believe the man, who was known to Jamey Carney, boarded a flight at Dublin Airport for Turkey.“My greatest concern now, is her daughter, and her mom, whom I’m also close with,” says Ommani. “If I seem angry, it is because I am angry. Angry that the death of someone I cared deeply about is being used to push a narrative exactly opposite to how that person lived her life. Jamey Carney and her cousin Ryan Fox. Photograph: Supplied by family “She was a friend who would listen and empathise with you, and even if she didn’t agree, she’d find a commonality or shared sentiment to build upon and connect with you.” Ommani says her friend loved people and loved life. “She was filled with righteous rage at injustice and had a passion for people. The world is a darker place now, because she is gone.”The dead woman’s cousin, Ryan Fox, who grew up with her in New York state, said she was very sensitive to the plight of others. “She had a big heart, and this sometimes outweighed her other senses. “My aunt Kathy, Jamey’s mom, called me two nights ago. She was hysterical. Kathy is usually so calm. She’s a psychotherapist, and she’d helped me through some heavy trauma before. She was a second mother figure for me growing up. She took my sister and I on vacations, with Jamey and her sister Devon. She always did whatever she could for us.” Having arrived in Ireland in 2021, Jamey Carney is said to have fallen in love with the country’s scenery and history, and swiftly began making friends. The body of Jamey Carney was removed from her home in Killarney on Wednesday morning Fellow American Sarah Lynch, who had also settled in the area, welcomed Jamey Carney into a WhatsApp group she had started, aimed at helping US women based in Kerry to connect.“I’d speak with her through our chat group. I didn’t know her well, but this has really shaken our group a lot. There’s about 35 of us in the group, and some of us would meet for holidays when we couldn’t make it back to the US,” says Lynch. “I remember especially talking to Jamey back when Diane Keaton passed. We were all saying how much we loved her, and Jamey was very much involved in that conversation. Many of the girls would have met her out and about in the town. She was a very active, popular member of the community.” Back in New York, Brianne Gail describes the Jamey Carney she became friends with 20 years ago. “She was just such a fun person to be around. We’d go out and dance, she was definitely a girl’s girl. Even though we’d lost touch when she moved to Ireland, I ran into her at a local shopping mall earlier this year, she was with her daughter. Her daughter was everything to her,” she says. Cousins Jamey Carney and Ryan Fox as children. Photograph: supplied by family “I had just recently shared a photo of the two of us online. That picture, it reminded me that the thing about Jamey was, you just couldn’t help wanting to hang out with her. She was always so positive and sweet.”Fox says his cousin always had a strong love for Ireland.“Jamey moved to Ireland, probably due to my family’s Fenian roots. Jamey was very, very proud, and our blood goes deep into the roots of Irish people fighting for their rights. “I was envious of her, living in Ireland. I’ll always regret not having made it over there to visit, after she’d asked me. “Then her father passed, and she inherited some assets, and that’s when certain people started coming into her life, to try and take advantage of her. I’ve got strong views about things, but now, I can’t even go online, without seeing a picture of my cousin.”[ ‘Jamey Carney was a loving mother’: Tributes paid in Kerry to murdered American womanOpens in new window ]All his cousin ever wanted, says Fox, was for everybody to have equal rights. “To raise her daughter in a nice place like Ireland, and be safe.” Gardaí in Killarney are still seeking information regarding Jamey Carney’s death, and can be contacted at 064-6671160.On Wednesday, high school friends of Jamey Carney started a GoFundMe campaign, to raise money for her daughter’s future expenses.