Dateline NBC - The Dead of Night

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

A mother of two goes missing in Monrovia, California. As detectives investigate, the woman's friends and family reveal that she feared she was being stalked. Josh Mankiewicz reports. Originally aired on NBC on October 9, 2020.

Tonight on Dateline. She opened up her boutique. She had gone to Europe. She was going out dancing at night. She was taking lots of pictures and posted on social media. It was a whole new world. She was excited.

She goes, I think somebody's breaking into my Facebook. I also think somebody's breaking into my house. She felt like she had a stalker. Nairobi, please. I haven't heard from my daughter since Tuesday. Inside the apartment, there's bloodstains on the carpet and blood spatter on the wall. And she's missing. And she's missing.

They find a notebook. It says, I'll have great pleasure tearing her apart. The hairs on your neck stand up. I just went, oh my God, you've got to look into this guy. He was so good at pretending. He's a monster. He's like, do you have a suspect? I said, yes.

And he said, who? And I said, you. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. here's josh mankiewicz with the dead of night it was the dead of night and she ran as fast as she could frightened panicked. Wearing next to nothing, she climbed over the iron gate, pounded on the door, and begged for help. Who was this woman? What or who was she running from? And would she make it out alive? Monrovia, California, a quaint, family-friendly city nestled in the foothills of the rugged San Gabriel Mountains, one of the many suburbs of Los Angeles. It was the ideal landing spot for 31-year-old LaJoya McCoy.

She worked hard to get here. She was the only one in my family who actually went to college where she did, being raised by a single mother. For David Clark and his wife Alicia, their niece LaJoya's success always seemed within her reach. She knew what she wanted, and education was her very top thing, you know. And school is where LaJoya, a star student, would shine the brightest. I went to a couple of graduations down at the university, and I couldn't have been more proud. For LaJoya, education was a gift to share with others, like her younger sister, Brianna.

Growing up poor, although it didn't feel like it sometimes, she just wanted better for herself and for the rest of us. When LaJoya's mom and younger siblings left California and moved to Las Vegas, LaJoya stayed behind and strengthened the bond she had with her aunt and uncle. I knew it was unconditional love for me when she told me, Uncle Dave, I think you should run for mayor. I'm thinking, wow, he's really thinking a lot of me. Soon, LaGioia met Jose Turner, an aspiring actor and playwright. Hello, my name is Jose Turner.

Things got serious. They moved in together and had two children. That relationship did not last. But LaGioia and Jose were devoted to their kids and committed to co-parenting. And LaJoya continued to pursue her dreams. Yeah, that's one thing about her, she never gave up. You know, she was very determined. She always kept evolving. LaJoya had a good job with L.A. County as an auditor.

She also opened her own clothing boutique and was developing a smartphone app. She was just moving forward. She enjoyed her job, loved it. And, you know, when she started her boutique after that, I'm thinking, where is she getting all this time to do these things, you know? LaGioia's good friend, Eva Mendoza, visited the boutique and understood why success was critical for LaJoya. What she wanted to do was definitely be her own boss, to spend more time with her kids.

She just wanted them to have, like, the best life. She was learning the piano. Two babies. She was also teaching what she learned to her kids. LaJoya was spreading her wings, but was she also spreading herself too thin? Even though she shared child care duties with Jose, she needed a helping hand. So LaJoya called her mom in Las Vegas and asked her to have one of LaJoya's sisters come out to California to help watch the kids. The next day, the Vegas bus pulled into L.A. almost an hour late.

LaJoya's sister stepped off the bus and did not see LaJoya, who was supposed to meet her. Her Uncle David then got a call. I was at work, and she's just crying. It was his sister, LaJoya's mom. LaJoya didn't show up, and she's like, I'm worried, because she knew she was coming. She actually sent for her. You call LaJoya.

No answer. Exactly. You're texting her. She's not at home. No. David left work to collect his younger niece. He was perplexed. I was hoping she just was somewhere and would

show up and say, you know what, I'm sorry I was doing this or doing that. I thought she just lost track of time. And, you know, and we do that. Because like I said, she was juggling the boutique, the work, and I figured, well, maybe, you know what, she lost track of time. Well, according to social media, LaJoya might have been juggling something else. Just a week before, she had posted a message on Facebook that read, OK, he made me breakfast and has a rooftop pool. He's a keeper. The man in the photograph?

David and Alicia had no clue. When I seen that, I'm like, okay, she's back in a relationship. I'm hoping this one is a good one. The way the picture looked, I'm like, what is he, a record producer? Or, you know, I didn't know what he did. But I'm like, maybe they took a flight somewhere. I don't know. One day passed, then two days.

Still no sign of LaJoya. On Friday, June 12, 2015, her mom called the Monrovia Police Department. She was worried because she knew things about LaJoya had been telling friends. She goes, I think somebody's breaking into my Facebook. Even scarier, was someone breaking into her house? She goes, I know for sure that I'm leaving some stuff somewhere, and when I'm coming home, it's somewhere else. June 12, 2015 was a summer Friday in Monrovia, California. Families gathered at the local street fair, leaving their hectic work weeks behind them.

Not so for Summer Jackson. A long nightmare was about to begin. Her daughter, LaJoya McCoy, wasn't answering calls or texts. And now Summer was on the phone to police. I haven't heard from my daughter since Tuesday. For many departments, that call is as routine as they come. Adult children don't always check in with their parents. Then Summer shared this. She keeps telling me that her tires would flash a few days before, like over the weekend.

Somebody is kind of stalking her a little bit, so that's what's making me concerned. All right, we will go and see what we can find out, okay? Oh, thank you so much. I'm just so worried. LaJoya's mom was one of the few people who knew about her daughter's closely guarded secret. She believed someone was stalking her. LaJoya also told her friend Eva. I was always, always worried about her. LaJoya had just broken up with Jose when she and Eva became friends.

It was a whole new world. She opened up her boutique. She started going to the beach in bikinis. She had gone to Europe. She was going out dancing at night. Eva says LaJoya loved her new freedom and was starting to date again. She was very beautiful. Very beautiful.

So she never had a problem, at least when she was with me, with guys coming up to her and trying to get her number. Were there guys that she was going out with that you were worried about, that you didn't trust? Me? Everybody. I didn't trust any guy. LaGioia rekindled old flames and started new ones, often posting about them on Facebook. Like this guy, Luther Walls,

a friend from her past she had reconnected with. She was looking for, like, you know, marriage, like, you know, a life partner. Turned out that wasn't Luther. They did remain friends. And according to Eva, LaJoya's dating life rarely blossomed into anything serious. Something seemed to be holding her back. She goes, I think somebody is breaking into my serious. Something seemed to be holding her back. She goes, I think somebody's breaking into my Facebook. I also think somebody's breaking into my house. And I was like, huh? What makes you think that? She goes, I know, Eva, I know for sure that

I'm leaving some stuff somewhere. And when I'm coming home, it's somewhere else. LaGioia said things weren't just moved around. Some of them were missing. The first thing that came into my mind is, like, you're under a lot of stress. You know, it's easy to forget, you know, where you leave things or misplace things. You know, I told her, it happens to all of us. I think you're just a little stressed. Now LaGioia was missing. After her mom called Monrovia PD, they went Now LaGioia was missing. After her mom called Monrovia PD, they went to LaGioia's apartment. Blinds were drawn. They couldn't see in the windows. Checked

the doors. Door was locked. Sergeant Chad Harvey was a detective back in 2015. He says patrol officers found LaGioia's apartment locked and secure. Couldn't find anything suspicious, anything out of the normal. It looked normal. Everything looked normal at the time. So they went ahead and contacted LaJoya's mother and told her nothing seems peculiar and left it at that. LaJoya's mom wasn't alone. That night, police heard from other worried friends and family.

I texted her last night and she did not respond. That night, police heard from other worried friends and family. Officers went back for a second look. Police called LaGioia's ex, Jose Turner, the father of their two children. He said the last time he saw LaGioia was the previous weekend, when he dropped off the kids at her place. A few days later, he picked up the kids, as usual. Police also called LaGioia's cell phone carrier, who told them LaGioia's cell was active that day. When LaGioia's mom heard that, she told police she would hold off on filing a missing persons report. Maybe LaJoya would contact her. So we waited a few days. As Friday night drew to a close, news about LaJoya's disappearance was already making the rounds. LaJoya's sister

Brianna heard it from her grandmother. She said it very nonchalant. She just told me that LaJoya hasn't talked to my mom in a few days. And me knowing LaJoya, I felt like maybe she just wanted some space. It wasn't uncommon for her to, like, disconnect from time to time. Eva remembered a conversation she'd had with LaJoya a week before. She told me that she wanted to, you know, just escape. She found a place, like a retreat in Arizona, no cell phones, whatever, meditation and whatnot. I told her, I think it's a great idea.

I think it's going to help you gather your thoughts. LaJoya had a lot to think about. Earlier that week, she'd gone to happy hour with her friend Bernadette, who sometimes helped out with LaGioia's clothing boutique. They talked about LaGioia's decision to close her store due to financial problems. Despite that setback, Bernadette said she didn't see any signs LaGioia wanted to escape, unplug, or vanish. Things are okay now because she closed the store, so now she has that stress off of her. She was very positive about the future. She even posted this video of herself dancing in the boutique just days before the doors closed

for good. So where was she? LaGioia's brother called Luther, even though they'd never met, to ask if he'd heard from LaGioia. In fact, he had, Luther told him, but that was a few days ago. After that call, Luther said he went by LaGioia's apartment. I wanted to see if I'd seen her car out there, but I didn't, because her parking space was in the back and to the side right there. So Luther said he didn't, because her parking space was like in the back and like to the side right there. So Luther said he didn't knock on her door. It had now been nearly a week since LaGioia had gone silent.

With a clock ticking loudly in her head, LaGioia's mom again called police. Officers made a third trip to LaGioia's apartment. And this time, they forced their way in. And what they found was a crime scene. Coming up. I notice that there's bloodstains on the carpet. What had happened? And where was LaGioia? The answer just might be on video.

A neighbor put up a motion camera. That camera was faced at the perfect position. When Dateline continues. The streets were quiet that warm summer afternoon in Monrovia. Inside LaGioia McCoy's apartment, it was quiet too. I went in through the window. I yelled who I was. Yelled for LaGioia.

No answer. Detective Harvey opened the front door for his partner. As we did, we entered, still announcing our presence. Nobody was inside. What's it look like in there? It's clean. Doesn't look like anything out of the normal. Some clothes lying around.

Just normal everyday things. Then they looked in the main bedroom, where it didn't look normal at all. I noticed that there's bloodstains on the carpet. I then noticed bloodstains on the mattress and blood spatter on the wall. And all of LaJoya's bedding was gone. And she's missing. Well, you've been doing this a while. What are the odds that that person who was missing is still alive? We like to think that they are. We don't know that they aren't. In L.A. County, a small department like Monrovia often turns to the sheriff's department for a possible murder case like this one.

That evening, Detective Eddie Brown and his partner were on call. We got called from our residence, and we go straight to the location. Brown scanned LaGioia's apartment. The kids' room was totally disheveled. The drawers were taken out. Some of them were on the floor. Some of them were partially open. Clothing, material was on the floor.

It looked a mess. LaGioia's car was gone, and detectives noticed her purse and phone were missing too. Had someone robbed the apartment and taken LaGioia with them? Detective Brown didn't think so. There was no forced entry. Somebody can push their way in.

If he did that, why would he take the bed sheets if something didn't occur? If this is a push-in bad guy and he disables her or kills her... He's going to leave her right there. He's going to steal what he's going to steal. Leave her right there. No reason to take her body. Right. Brown believed the most likely scenario was that someone staged the scene to look like a robbery,

which meant LaGioia was probably the target. Because the woman's bedsheets were gone, which I believe that was used to transport her out of the house, so she was either knocked out unconscious or dead. The apartment also smelled like bleach. Which tells me that someone probably tried to clean the crime scene. And then came a lead. Was there a video record of what had happened?

A neighbor directly across from her apartment was having a problem with some petty theft, so he decided to put up a motion camera. And it's the type of camera that, you know, it has to be activated by a sensor, so an animal or a person walking by. And that camera was faced at the perfect position. Investigators downloaded the neighbor's video. You don't usually get that lucky. No. That's why I was very excited about this camera, especially when I started watching the video,

because you could see the door clear as a bell. Brown watched that video for hours. I keep playing it over and over hoping to see her being carried out of that apartment. That's what he wanted to see but it wasn't there. Her door is too far away for the motion to activate the camera. So you're lucky, but you're unlucky. Yeah. I needed a cat to walk past there. At just the right time. At just the right time. No cat, and still no LaGioia McCoy. Police put out a bulletin for a silver Toyota Camry, LaGioia's car. And hours after the alert went out, a patrol officer found it, not far from her apartment,

parked in a residential neighborhood. A parking ticket had been wedged into the doorframe, and there was something inside. The passenger and driver's windows were tinted. The officer took a closer look, and he saw it. It was a body. Coming up...

I just felt like my world had ended. LaGioia's loved ones get terrible news, and investigators make a discovery. That's got to make everybody sit up a little taller in the saddle. That's a red flag for us, yes. Less than two miles from LaGioia McCoy's apartment sat her silver Toyota Camry. It had been parked beneath the summer sun for who knows how many days. Inside, beneath a blanket, was a female body. She's on the passenger side or the driver's side? Passenger side, which tells us clearly that the perpetrator drove her to this location.

She had a ligature mark around her neck. News spread quickly. A candlelight vigil was held at LaGioia's apartment. NBC station KNBC was there. Throughout the night, more and more gathered. Word spread. LaJoya McCoy was not missing anymore. I just felt like my world had ended. It was tough. Her aunt and uncle kept hoping it was all some kind of mistake. It's not going to be her. They're going to say she's okay or somebody else. She's a mother. She's a mother. She's a sister. She's a daughter.

Who would want to do this to her? I just couldn't understand it. They couldn't think of anyone who had an issue with LaGioia, except maybe the father of her children, Jose Turner. She moved on, and I think he didn't like that. According to Alicia, Jose would sometimes do things to spite LaJoya, like the times he'd pick up the kids from the youth center without letting LaJoya know about it. He's just kind of being a pain.

It's a jerk. Yeah, it's a jerk. You know, trying to make her mad. Yeah, and it was definitely a, no, it had to be some envy in there. Bernadette thought the same. I believe that he became very jealous of LaJoya after a while. Because her life was going somewhere and his kind of wasn't. Right. I believe he was an inspiring actor that really wasn't getting many offers. And there was something else

that bothered David and Alicia. The day after LaJoya didn't show up to meet her younger sister at the bus station, Jose showed up at their house with the kids. And during that visit, they say, not once did Jose ask about LaJoya. No matter what was going on between them, that's the mother of his kids.

Yes, and that's why I didn't understand it. Like, what? You're that selfish of a person? Of course, Detective Eddie Brown heard all these stories about Jose, including a comment Jose had made to the Monrovia PD the second time they called him while LaGioia was still missing. Mr. Turner said, I'm going to stop answering any questions and you can talk to my lawyer. That's got to make everybody sit up a little taller in the saddle.

That's a red flag for us, yes. Well, there was another side to Jose. Tammy Devine was a journalist and aspiring filmmaker who got to know Jose and LaGioia. I remember seeing LaGioia and Jose with their kids together, and I was like, oh my goodness. I wish that, you know, I was cool, calm, and collected like these guys are. There was kindness there. Jose respected LaGioia, said Tammy. And Detective Brown knew that just because Jose had clammed up, that didn't mean he was a killer.

We didn't zero in on him, and we can't. You know, initially in an investigation, everybody is a suspect. We look at everything, you know, and everybody. Tips started coming in to police. One from a local chiropractor who'd seen the news reports about LaGioia. He told detectives he met LaGioia and a friend of hers at a restaurant about a week earlier. Turns out that was the night Bernadette was out with LaGioia. Detectives reviewed the restaurant's security cameras and there was the chiropractor.

He's seen talking with LaGioia and later leaving the restaurant's security cameras, and there was the chiropractor. He's seen talking with LaGioia, and later leaving the restaurant. LaGioia and her friend leave a couple of minutes later. Doesn't look like anybody's following her, and she doesn't look like she's having trouble with anybody on her way out of the restaurant or way to the car. Correct. So whatever happened, doesn't happen there. Correct. The chiropractor was one of the last people to see LaGioia alive,

but his story was corroborated by what detectives saw on the security cameras. He was nothing more than a helpful citizen. And then there was something LaGioia had left behind, something in her own words. We locate her journals. Her journals tell us a lot. We find out that there was a boyfriend she had had before. And there was a new man she was falling for. And I remember reading that she had met somebody

and that she was looking forward to seeing him again. Was it the man she had posted about on Facebook just days before she went missing? Detectives needed more. And we do a warrant on her phone. We do get the return on her phone. LaGioia's cell phone record showed that on the evening she was out with Bernadette, the last time LaGioia was seen alive, she was texting with someone. And the last person to be in contact with LaGioia was not Jose Turner. Nope.

Coming up, investigators head back to the scene of the crime, hoping to smoke out a suspect. I did that on purpose, that location, so that he would be uncomfortable. And then they spring their trap. He's like, do you have a suspect? I said, yes. And he said, who? And I said, you. When Dateline continues. In any modern-day criminal investigation,

a person's digital footprint can be as valuable as their actual fingerprints. Unfortunately, in this case, LaGioia McCoy's cell phone was nowhere to be found. It last pinged several miles away from her home. And in that area, there's a lot of dumpsters. There's a lot of dumpsters. Never find the phone. Never find the phone. Or the bedding.

Or her purse. Nothing. Detectives were able to obtain LaGioia's cell phone records. They discovered the cell number that LaGioia last texted belonged not to her ex, Jose Turner, and not to the new guy with the rooftop pool, but to LaGioia's friend, Luther Walls, the guy who'd helpfully driven by her apartment to check on her.

Like LaGioia, Luther owned a boutique. Brown and his partner found him there. We are speaking with Mr. Walls, first name Luther, correct? Correct. He said that they had been involved romantically, but now they were just friends. Correct. My experience is that when guys say that, what they mean is, I wanted to be involved romantically, and she wanted to be just friends. Yeah, that's probably, that's what I took, you know, out of that, too. But I didn't want to push that. Luther knew what was coming.

I knew I was going to probably go through text messages, and I knew I was probably going to learn the last text messages she sent. Luther had kept the texts he'd received from LaGioia, and he shared them with Detective Brown. You get a good vibe off Luther. I did. You know, doing this job for a long time, you can tell generally when someone's lying. He didn't seem to be lying. Not at all.

Detectives came to believe Luther Walls had nothing to do with LaGioia's murder. You can tell by his phone that he wasn't at her apartment. Correct. Instead, Luther helped detectives with an understanding of what was going on with LaGioia just prior to her disappearance, because Luther had heard some of the same stories LaGioia had told her mom and her friend Eva. She had expressed concerns that someone could be stalking her. And who was that? She never told me exactly who. Even without a name, Luther did know exactly who LaJoia was talking about.

She did tell me if somebody did do something to me, check her baby daddy. And that was Jose Turner. She told me that he was abusive. Like, she didn't really go into details, but she did tell me he was abusive. I think it was more like a controlling relationship. Luther also told detectives that LaGioia believed Jose had a locksmith make a key to her apartment while she wasn't there. I believe her sixth sense of fear was kicking in.

This was a woman who knew she was in danger? She knew she was in danger, yes. She knew. Just not in time. Correct. Which, unfortunately, I've seen that occur a lot in my career. And perhaps this was about the time in the investigation when Jose Turner's sixth sense was kicking in, because Jose picked up the phone and called Monrovia PD. The call was recorded. I want to be able to pick up some things for the kids if

that's possible. Kids games and things he said that were still in LaJoya's apartment. Monrovia PD told Jose to call the detectives. And when Brown's phone rang, he saw an opportunity. Yeah, but we need to talk to you about whatever happened to your ex, the baby's baby's mom? I don't know. I don't have anything to say about that. Oh, you're not you're not you're not concerned about it? I didn't say that. The detective told Jose he would be happy to meet with him. What about, I don't know, 130.30 at the apartment?

At the apartment? I did that on purpose, that location, so that he would be uncomfortable. And so they met at the scene of the crime. So when you meet him there, how does he seem? Like a suspect. Detective Brown had a surprise for Jose. He would hand over the kids things, sure, but he wanted something in return. I also was going to get a DNA swab from him and I told him that and I showed him the paperwork. Which was a search warrant. And here we are and

here's our swab, so open your mouth. Exactly. Brown also had a question for Jose. I said, Jose, how come you haven't asked anything about LaGioia? You don't want to know about the investigation or anything? And, oh, yes, yeah, he said, how's the investigation? Now that you bring it up, I do. Yeah, he's like, well, do you have a suspect? And I said, yes. And he said a suspect? And I said, yes. And he said, who?

And I said, you. They submitted Jose Turner's DNA to the lab. And they waited while LaGioia's family and friends mourned. It was very hard, very hard sitting there. It shouldn't have happened. We shouldn't have been at her funeral. And at the funeral with LaJoya's kids was Jose Turner. To see him there was disturbing.

Just acting like nothing happened, like nothing. David and Alicia knew something had happened. They'd seen it with their own eyes. Coming up, an eerie conversation. It was like I was speaking with LaGioia. Could a single phone call crack this case? That's the missing piece. Yes. Pasadena, California, April 2013.

It was close to 2 a.m. David and Alicia were jolted awake. Just heard some frantic banging, banging. It grew louder. At first we were thinking maybe it's the police and then maybe somebody's trying to break in. Someone was pounding on their front door. David got up to see who it was. And then we just hear Uncle David.

Yeah, and I'm like, who is that? Remember the desperate woman at the start of our story? That was LaJoya, standing at her aunt and uncle's doorstep half naked and terrified. I immediately seen the way she was dressed and crying. I knew it had to do with him. Him, meaning Jose Turner. David pulled his niece inside as she wept. I've never in my life seen her that way. And for her to come the way she did, I mean, I have a wall that's probably three feet tall in front of that apartment building.

And then it has the cast iron rods with points on the tip. She jumped over that to get to my place, to get away from him. LaGioia said she and Jose were arguing when Jose suddenly turned violent. She said, I just came out the bathroom and he just flipped out. She said Jose choked her and she found the strength to hit back. Then he went down and then she ran out the door. In terror, LaGioia ran to her aunt and uncle's home. And romantically anyway, she never looked back. She dumped Jose, moved on with her life. At least, that was the plan. Two years later,

LaGioia was murdered. And now her uncle couldn't understand how Jose Turner was still a free man. You know, you start having doubt like this isn't going to get resolved and you need closure. That's when Detective Brown heard from the crime lab. They tested the DNA found on LaGioia's car and under her fingernails against the swab Brown had taken from Jose. It was enough of a match to make an arrest. That's the missing piece. Yes. Jailed tonight in Temple City, 47-year-old Jose Roberto Turner arrested this morning on suspicion of killing his ex-girlfriend, 31-year-old LaJoya McCoy. LaJoya's mom, Summer, found it hard to accept.

Her mom didn't want to believe it, of course, because that's her grandkid's father. No one wants to believe that. Least of all, a woman who came forward to say that long before LaJoya McCoy, she knew exactly what Jose Turner was capable of. Jose was so good at pretending. When we go in public, everything is wonderful. He's mannered. He's respectful. When we get home, he's a monster. Her name was Adrienne, Jose's ex-girlfriend from years ago. She came forward when she learned Jose had been arrested. Detective Brown recorded her interview. He beat me so bad I ran out the house naked. You see he kept me naked. I had to

stay naked that way he don't go out the house. For Adrian, LaGioia's story was like a bad memory. I felt sick. That could have been me. You know, that could have been me. It was like I was speaking with LaGioia. The stories were that similar? Yes. In summer 2017, Jose went on trial for LaGioia's murder. When you take this to a jury, you want to be able to prove it beyond any possible doubt. Veteran prosecutor Fernanda Barreto said the evidence was overwhelming. A blood-soaked note found in LaGioia's car, in her own writing, documenting Jose's stalking. That read, I get a flat tire after he says he's in my area. Jose Turner's DNA at the scene of the crime.

Plus, the jury heard from Jose's former girlfriend, Adrienne, whose own story echoed LaGioia's. And there was one more thing. Those items missing from LaGioia's apartment? Detectives found them in Jose's car, along with this, a green notebook with notes in Jose's writing. They find almost a stream of conscious writing, a vent session on this one page,

and it says, you know, I'll have great pleasure tearing her apart. Jose's defense? The writing was fiction. He was, after all, an actor and playwright. As for Jose's DNA at the crime scene, his attorney argued, there was no way of knowing how and when it got there. Jurors didn't buy it. After just eight hours of deliberation, they found Jose Turner guilty of first-degree murder.

His sentence? 26 years to life. I was heartbroken, yet very relieved that my sister got justice. Looking back on LaJoya's story, there is one obvious fork in the legal road. That night, she said Jose choked her and she ran to her uncle's house. How is Jose not locked up that night? She didn't call the police and she didn't want the police involved.

Because she thinks that'll make it worse? Yes, and she's not wrong. I have cases where the women call the police, they agree to prosecute, and they end up being murdered. So what is the right way? I wish I knew. LaGioia did do her best to move on. She was acutely aware of the danger in front of her, but she just hoped that he wouldn't go that far. She hoped that he would not take that ultimate step and kill her. It's crazy when all you have going for you is hoping. I don't disagree. I think that she started reaching out to people

towards the end when his behavior was escalating. In fact, detectives say her murder came just a few days before an appointment LaJoya had made with a security company to have an alarm system installed at her apartment. LaJoya's aunt and uncle became parents all over again. LaJoya's two children came to live with them. We adopted them, so they're our kids. And how are they? They're doing well. Well, I mean, you wonder what's going through their mind. David and Alicia say that when LaJoya disappeared,

Jose told the kids she had abandoned them. You've told them the truth about what happened to her. They ask in certain ways And then when I tell them I won't hide anything from you I'll tell you as much as I can I mean, the oldest son, he told me My dad tricked us, huh? And I said, yeah, he did

Your dad didn't tell you the truth, but we will Yes, yes The truth about a woman who never gave up on herself or the future she wanted. That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again Friday at 9, 8 central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.