Ft. Lauderdale Woman Looking For Clues In Mother's 2009 Murder
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - A Fort Lauderdale cold case has police looking for a killer and a daughter searching for justice.
"My mom was a strong black woman," proudly said Chiquita Chestnut. "She took care of 7 kids of her own. "
Chiquita mom Linda's life fell apart in her final days. She turned to drugs and prostitution, deeply affected after one of her 7 children was sentenced to life in prison.
On December 17, 2009, her bullet riddled body ended up in a field near Broward Blvd and I-95, a place known for drugs and prostitution.
"She would never go back there, regardless of the fact she's prostituting and what she did," said Chiquita. "My mom would never go back there. It has to be somebody she know."
Investigators figure just before the murder, Linda was picked up somewhere around the 12-hundred block of Sistrunk Blvd and brought here.
"Some sort of confrontation ensued over here," said Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Travis Mandell. "The victim realized that she was in some serious trouble."
Police found blood – and other evidence nearby. They figure Linda tried fighting off her killer , then ran for her life.
"When she fled from this area and ran thru the shrubbery and onto the concrete over there, she was fearing for her life," said Det. Mandell. "There's no question about it. She knew something was amiss and she had to get out of there. "
She didn't get far, Linda was shot just feet away and left to die.
"I don't want nobody to judge my mom on her …her lifestyle," said Chiquita. "She's somebody's daughter, she's somebody's mother, she has grandkids. My kids will never know her, my brother's kids will never know her."
Despite her shortcomings, Chiquita says Linda was a devoted mother, who was about to welcome a new grandchild and had plans to clean up.
Now the plan is to find her killer.
"One day they're going to break and they going to tell somebody," figured Chiquita. "That person will never get away with it. It can be ten years, twenty years from now, I'm pretty sure my mom's going to get justice."
Investigators figure the killer must have told somebody If you have any information, call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
