Shocking Attack Leaves North Highlands Woman Planning Fiancee's Funeral
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — A shocking attack left a woman dead after she got out of her car to check on a man in the street, leaving her fiancee to plan her funeral instead of their wedding.
Friends of the victim identified her as Nichole Riolo and said she lived just a block away.
Deputies have not identified her, but say she got out of her car after a man was seen wandering in the roadway. That same man would slash her throat, and she would wander across Watt Avenue and collapse in a parking lot.
More than a dozen hours later, Sacramento County Sheriff's investigators are still trying to piece it all together after Riolo was found in North Highlands on Wednesday.
David Powe was set to be Nichole's father-in-law. His daughter was engaged to Nichole, with a wedding set for October. His daughter was too distraught to speak with CBS13.
"They had already sent out the invitations, so everybody was informed," he said.
That all changed on Wednesday when deputies say she encountered Juan Avalos in the middle of Watt Avenue while she was headed to work.
"He was in the street, they say he kicked the car, she pulled over because she probably thought she hit him, he got up and attacked her," Powe said.
Witnesses report seeing Nichole speaking to Avalos, who was acting erratically. When she walked back to her car, that's when he allegedly slashed Nichole's throat. She'd died moments later. Deputies would later catch up to Avalos.