AALIYAH JALYN SLAUGHTER

September 20, 1994 - January 14, 2021


Aaliyah Jalyn Slaughter was born with a high-minded spirit and an old soul to Arvinese Reid and Anthony Slaughter on September 20, 1994, in Suffern, New York. Even as a child, she showed a mature, steadfast, and generous nature, which was the hallmark of her spirit as an adult. But do not make the mistake that she was soft - she had a titanium core. As she once posted about her children, “I’ll do anything necessary for them, so don’t let the necessary occur.”


Aaliyah had a profound will, a fierce drive to live her life, which manifested in her many successes. As a member of the Nyack High School Class of 2012, she was a skilled volleyball player and a part of a championship team. At Nyack High School, she was well-known for her kindness, sense of fashion, and work ethic. She accumulated a great group of loyal friends. After graduating, she attended and graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent College in 2016 with a B.S. in Psychology and High Honors, even after being diagnosed and treated biweekly for the rare blood disease Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) her senior year. Others may have let this illness be a deterrent; Aaliyah sat in her hospital bed and completed her college work. Again and again, when this illness and others threatened to deter her, Aaliyah persevered through sheer will and faith. She worked at ARC of Rockland, providing mentorship and care to her clients, whom she loved, and they loved her back. Aaliyah worked even while receiving treatments that tired her and left her aching. Despite battles with PNH COVID, Myelodysplastic Syndrome, and Aplastic Anemia, she translated her love of children into a Masters Degree in Urban Education and Multicultural Education, Special Education (1-6) in 2019, all while raising twins. She established her successful business Aaliyah’s Vinyl Creations, in 2019, and it was growing. As a friend once said, "She moved at her own pace, and her pace was always moving forward.”


Aaliyah’s proudest accomplishments were her twins, Terrence and Tori. They were her raison d’etre existence (her reason for living), her heart, and her joy. Watching her with her children was like beholding the purity of motherhood - sacrifice, love, guidance, boundaries, and acceptance. No illness could prevent her from giving one hundred percent to her children. The illnesses may have worn down her body, but they never extinguished Aaliyah’s spirit.


Aaliyah Jalyn Slaughter was called home on January 14, 2021, after a battle with leukemia. She remained the sweet, kind, generous, genuine, and faithful person she had been born, with dauntlessness forged from adversity. She was the friend who always stood by your side; she was the fun-loving girl next door; she was the mother who made crafts with her children, gave them homework, and taught them to be kind to others. She was the loving daughter who called her mother, "her right hand." She was the woman filled with optimism. On January 3, 2021, she wrote on Facebook, “I say..to NEVER give up despite your circumstance and diagnosis….Life may not always go the way you intended, but it’s important to never forget you are still on this earth." Aaliyah lived her life with purpose; this is the legacy that she leaves behind.


Aaliyah Jayln Slaughter is survived by her children, Terrance, and Tori Newland, (dad, Dashaun Newland); her mother, Arvinese Reid; her father, Anthony Slaughter; her sisters Maurae Prince and Kayla Slaughter; her grandmother Annie Ruth Slaughter, and many uncles, aunts, cousins, family, and friends.