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LaJoya McCoy was found dead in her silver Toyota a mile away from her apartment on June 16, 2015, after being reportedly missing since June 9, 2015. McCoy was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, Jose Roberto Turner, who was also the father to two children they shared.
The 31-year-old single mom of two from California had not shown up for work, as reported by her co-workers around mid-June. The Monrovia resident was stabbed multiple times and strangled to death with a rope by Jose Turner. The Dateline NBC season 29 episode 5 showcases the unfortunate story of LaJoya McCoy as it re-airs on December 28, 2023, at 10 pm EST. The synopsis reads,
"As detectives investigate the sudden disappearance of LaJoya McCoy, a mother of two, from her apartment, her friends and family reveal LaJoya feared that she was being stalked."
Who was LaJoya McCoy? Details explored
LaJoya Kamiel McCoy was born on July 17, 1983, in Pasadena, California, to a single mother, Summer Jackson. She grew up in a lower to middle-income family with her younger siblings, Victor McCoy and L'Jadia McCoy.
LaJoya was an auditor for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. After graduating from 84 Cleveland Elementary School, she completed her education with an Associate of Arts atLong Beach City College in 2004. Then, she went on to acquire a Master of Science in Accountancy at the California State University, Los Angeles.
Apart from her full-time job of almost 13 years as a fiscal monitoring expert, she owned the Joya Boutique in Monterey Park and was also the co-owner of Hudba, Inc.
LaJoya McCoy and Jose Turner started seeing each other in the early 2000s. Even though their romantic relationship ended before they exchanged the vows, McCoy and Turner shared two children, James and Savannah, as parents.
According to Oxygen, LaJoya had plans to pick up her sister from the bus stop. Her sister had come down from Las Vegas to help with her children. However, McCoy never showed up.
What happened to LaJoya McCoy?
LaJoya McCoy was found dead and covered with a blanket on Tuesday, June 16, in the 200 block of West Cypress Avenue in Monrovia, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported that her lifeless body was discovered in her silver Toyota, left abandoned on the 200 block of West Cypress Avenue in Monrovia.
A welfare check conducted at her residence on the 800 block of West Olive Avenue raised suspicions of foul play, notably with the presence of a blood-covered bedroom. The autopsy report suggested multiple stabs and strangulation using a cord or rope as the cause of her death. Her estimated day of death was determined to be June 10, 2015.
LaJoya had allegedly reported feeling unsafe to the local police a few days before the incident. The primary suspect in the case, Jose Roberto Turner, was separated from LaJoya for two years before the murder. Turner was reportedly jealous of LaJoya's associations with other men and wrote about his desire to kill her in his journal, according to Oxygen.
Jose Turner’s DNA from under McCoy's fingernails and the samples of his DNA from inside her car led investigators to arrest Jose Turner on August 27, 2015. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison for first-degree murder on June 19, 2017.
