Years Later, Murder Victim's Daughter Promises To Find Killer
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - She was a woman with an infectious smile. Linda Chestnut was a mother to seven children and a grandmother. On the night of December 17, 2009 Linda was murdered next to an old pickle factory near Broward Blvd and I-95 in Fort Lauderdale. "As time goes on," her daughter Chiquita Chestnut cried, "it's hard to deal with it."
Chiquita will not rest until her mother's killer is caught.
"I won't never give up on my mom," she said. "My mom never gave up on her kids. She fought to the end and I'm going to fight to the end to find my mom's killer."
Detectives believe Linda Chestnut was working as a prostitute the night she was murdered, possibly picked up from the area of 12th and Sistrunk and brought to the field where her body was found. This is where they assume the killer pulled out a gun. After she was shot, the evidence shows she tried to get away. "She was running for her life," said Fort Lauderdale Homicide Detective Jim Jaggers. "She runs through a gully, through some water, into this field, she's being retained by a fence that was around here and falls right about here."
Linda laid dead on the scene until the next morning. Making this case even more difficult--much of the evidence was destroyed.
"It had rained heavily the night before which washed away much of our evidence," said Det. Jaggers. "We would have seen exact trails there may have been more DNA evidence that was washed away. Many things like that."
"Everyone falls short in their life in certain situations," said Chiquita. "Things happen, that's life. But at the end of the day, she's someone's daughter, she's a mother and she's a grandmother."
Chiquita knows her mom had her flaws, but did not deserve to be gunned down. Now, four years later, she still holds out hope that the killer will pay for taking the life of a woman who was loved by so many.
"She's still my angel," said Chiquita, "She's still in my heart, she's still my friend."
Police hope someone will be able to provide more information about what happened to Linda Chestnut that night and who killed her. They also think someone merging onto northbound I-95 from Broward Blvd could have seen something. The murder scene was just feet to the east. If you have information that can help, call Broward Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
