A woman used her government pandemic relief cash to hire a hitman to murder a love rival, police have said.

Jasmine Martinez allegedly used some of her $15,000 (£11,000) US Paycheck Protection Program to pay a gunman who fatally shot Le’Shonte Jones and wounded the 3-year-old daughter she was holding outside their Miami apartment last May, NBC reported.

Ms Jones, a Transportation Security Administration agent at Miami Airport, had allegedly been targeted by Martinez after several run-ins that culminated with the victim testifying in a case against Martinez’s boyfriend, reports said.

The man police believe murdered Le’Shonte. Pic: Miami-Dade Police

A warrant said that a bank statement had showed “a series of withdrawals of over $10,000 in cash and/or payments which occurs over the following days leading up to the homicide”.