>> reporter: that's not to say he's forgotten kim, their life together or the mistakes made. >> it led to infidelity on my part. probably the most disrespectful, rude thing i could do to her. and i'm going to live with that for the rest of my life. she didn't deserve it. >> reporter: and didn't deserve, either, the man derrick knows he brought into their world. still, he clings to the good things they shared. what memories does she leave behind for you? >> every time i look at the dogs, i think of her. they were her children. she was quiet, a little bit of an introvert. just a caring individual. i see many, many times someone needs a hand or someone just needs someone to talk to, she was there. >> reporter: in some ways she still is. but he knows that for every welcome memory, there's a brutal one of her and what happened churning somewhere like a storm surprising and devastating when it hits.

pictures, ethical social media. >> it was a whole new world. she was excited. >> she goes, i think somebody is breaking into my facebook, i also think somebody is breaking into my house. >> i haven't heard from my daughter since tuesday. >> in the apartment, there is blood stains on the carpet and blood spatter on the wall. and she's missing. >> they find a note with i do have great pleasure tearing her part. >> 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 said, do you have a suspect, i said, yes, he said, who, i said, you. hello and welcome to " dateline." it can be very unsettling, the feeling you're being watched, followed, possibly stocks. lajoya mccoy suspected all of those things was happening to her, but who would threaten the hard-working mother of two? friends and family also sensed she was in trouble, but no one could predict what was about to happen. here is 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,

climbed over the door and begged for help. who was this woman? what or who was she running from, and which she make it out alive? monrovia, california, a quaint, family city nestled in the foothills of the rugged scenic mountains, one of the many suburbs of los angeles. it was the ideal landing spot for 31-year-old lajoya mccoy. she works hard to get here. >> she was the only one in my family that actually went to college , what she did being raised by a single mother. >> for david clark and his wife, alicia, there needs, lajoya, success always seemed within reach. >> she knew what she wanted an education was the very top thing. >> and school is where lajoya, a starship -- star student,

would shine the brightest. >> i went to a couple of her graduation that university and i could not have been more proud. >> for lajoya, education was a gift to share with others like her younger sister, breanna. >> growing up poor, although it did not 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 tell of -- las vegas, lajoya stayed behind and strengthened the bond she had with her aunt and uncle beards >> i knew it was unconditional love when she told me, uncle david, you should run for mayor. i'm thinking, wow, you are thinking a lot of me. >> soon, lajoya met an aspiring playwright. things got serious. they moved together and had two children. that relationship did not last, but lajoya was committed to parenting. and lajoya continue

to pursue her dreams. >> she never gave up. she was very determined. >> she always kept evolving. >> lajoya had a job with l.a. county as an auditor. she also open her own clothing boutique and was developing a smart phone app. >> she just enjoyed her job and loved it. when she started her boutique after that i am thinking, where is she getting all these time to do all of these things? >> lajoya's friend, evelyn, visited the boutique and understood why success was critical for lajoya. >> what she wanted to do was definitely your own boss, spend more time with her kids. she just wanted them to have the best life. >> she was learning the piano. 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 childcare 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 she was crying. >> it was his sister, lajoya's mom. >> lajoya did not show up and she was like i'm worried here she knew she was coming because she sent for her. >> you are 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 and doing that. >> i thought she just lost track of time. we do that. like i said, she was juggling the boutique, the work, and i'm thinking, maybe she lost track of time. >> according to social media, lajoya might have been juggling something else here just a week before, she had posted a message on facebook that read, okay, he may be requested and has a rooftop pool, he's a keeper. the man in the fork at-- photograph, david and alisha 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 look, i'm like, is he a record producer? i don't know what he did. maybe they took a flight somewhere, i don't know. >> one day past, then two days, still no sign of lajoya. on friday, june 12th, 2015, her mom called the monrovia police

department. >> i'm thinking that she might be sick or unconscious in her apartment . >> she was worried because she knew things about lajoya the police did not. coming up, what lajoya had been telling friends . >> she goes, i think somebody is breaking into my facebook. >> even scarier, with someone breaking into her house? >> i know for sure i am leaving some stuff somewhere and when i come home, it is somewhere else. >> i was always, always worried about her. >> when "dateline" continues. but hey...nothing wrong with sticking it to the boss. ooooh, flo, you gonna take that? why would that concern me? because you're...the... aren't you the..? huh...we never actually discussed hierarchy. ok, why don't we just stick to letting dave know how much he can save when he bundles his home or auto with his boat or rv. wait, i thought jamie was the boss. [ laughter ] it's funny because i'm not boss material!

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june 12th, 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 , was not answering calls or texts, and no summer was on the phone to police. >> i haven't heard from my daughter since, well 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 were slashed a few days before, like over the weekend. somebody is kind of stalking her a little bit. so, that's a big concern. >> all right, we will go when we will find out, okay? >> okay, thank you so much. i'm so worried. >> lajoya's mom was one of the few people that knew about her daughter's closely guarded secret. she believed someone was stalking her. lajoya also told her friend . lajoya had just broken up with jose when she and eva became friends . >> it was a whole new world. she opened her boutique. she started going to the beach in bikinis. she had gone to europe. she was going out dancing at night. >> ever since lajoya loved her new freedom, she was starting to date again. >> she was very beautiful, very beautiful. 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 she was going out with that you were worried about me that you did not trust? >> me? everybody. i did not trust any guy. >> lajoya 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 marriage, like a life partner. >> turned out, that wasn't luther. they did remain friends. according to eva, lajoya's dating life really blossomed into anything serious. something seemed to be holding her back. >> she goes, i think somebody is breaking into my facebook. i also think somebody is breaking into my house. and i was like, huh? what makes you think that? and i go-- she goes, i know for

sure i am leaving some stuff somewhere, and when i am coming home, it somewhere else. >> lajoya said, things weren't just moved around, some of them were missing. >> the first thing that came to my mind, you are under a lot of stress. it is easy to forget where you leave things and misplace things . it happens to all of us. i think you are just a little stressed. >> now, lajoya was missing. after her mom called lajoya pd , they went to lajoya's apartment. >> lines were drawn. they couldn't see in the windows. checked the doors, the doors were locked. >> sergeant chad harvey was a detective in 2015. she he says, patrol officers found lajoya's apartment locked and secure. everything looked normal at the time. they went ahead and contacted lajoya's mother and told her, nothing seems peculiar, and left it at that. >> lajoya's mom was not alone.

that night, police heard from other worried friends and family . >> i text her last night and she did not respond. >> i have an employee that has not reported to work. >> officers went back for a second look. >> they started talking to some neighbors. nothing really seemed out of the ordinary again. >> police called lajoya's !, jose turner, the father of their two kids, and he said, the last time he saw lajoya was the previous weekend, when he dropped off the kids at her place. a few weeks later, he picked up the kids as usual. police also called lajoya's cell phone carrier who told police lajoya's cell phone was active that day. when lajoya's mom heard that, she told police she would hold off on filing a missing persons report . maybe lajoya would contact her. as friday night drew to a

close, news about lajoya's disappearance was already making rounds . lajoya's sister, breanna , heard it from their grandmother. >> she said it very nonchalant. she just said that lajoya has not 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. >> even remembered a conversation she'd had with lajoya a week before. >> she told me that she wanted to just escape. she found a place, like a retreat in arizona, no cell phones, whatever, meditation and what not. i told her, it is a great idea. i take it will 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'd sometime helped out with lajoya's clothing boutique. they talked about lajoya's

decision to close the store due to financial problems. despite that, bernadette said, she did not see any signs lajoya wanted to escape, unplug , or vanish. >> rings are okay now, because she closed the store. now she has that stress off her and 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? lajoya's brother called luther , even though they'd never met, to ask him if he had heard from lajoya. in fact, he had, luther told him, but that was a few days ago. after that call, luther said, he went by lajoya's apartment. >> i want to see if i see her car out there, but i didn't hear her parking space is like to the back into the side right there. >> so, luther said, he did not knock on her door. it had now been nearly a week since lajoya had gone silent , with a clock ticking loudly in her head, lajoya's mom called

police. officers made a third trip to lajoya's apartment, and this time, they forced their way in. and what they found was a crime scene. >> coming up. >> i went in through the window, i yelled who i was yelled for lajoya, no answer. i noticed that there is blood stains on the carpet. >> what had happened and where was lajoya? the answer just might be on video. >> a neighbor directly across from her apartment was having a problem with some petty theft, so he decided to put up a motion camera. that camera was faced at the perfect position. >> when "dateline" continues. no sulfates, no silicones, no dyes. dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done.

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the streets were quiet that warm, summer afternoon in monrovia. inside lajoya month mccoy's apartment, it was quiet too. >> i went in through the window, yelled why was yelled for lajoya, no answer. >> detective harvey opened the front door for his partner. >> as we entered, we still announced our presence. nobody was inside. it is clean, does not look like anything out of the normal. some close lying around, just normal, everyday things. >> then, they look in the main bedroom, where it did not look normal at all. >> i noticed there is blood stains on the carpet. i noticed blood stains on the mattress and a blood splatter on the wall. >> and all of lajoya's bedding is gone. >> and she is missing.

>> you have been doing this and while, what are the odds that that person is 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 apartment like monroeville often turns to the sheriff's department for a case like this one. that evening, detective eddie brown and his partner were on call. >> we got a call from our residence, and we go straight to the location. >> brown scanned lajoya's apartment. >> the kids' room were totally disabled. the drawers were taken out, some of them were on the floor, some of them partially opened. clothing material is on the floor. it looked a mess. >> lajoya's car was gone and detectives noticed her purse and phone work missing too. had someone robbed the apartment and taken lajoya with them ? detective brown did not think so. >> there was no forced entry.

>> somebody could push their way in? >> if he did that, why would he take the bedsheets if something did not occur? >> if this is a pushing bad guy and he disabled or killed her, he's going to leave it right there, still what he's going to steal, and leave her right there, no reason to take her body. >> brown believed the most likely scenario was somewhat staged the scene to make it look like a robbery, which meant, lajoya was probably the target. >> because the woman's bedsheets were gone, which i believed that was used to transport her out of the house. she was either knocked out, unconscious, or dead. >> the apartment also smelled like bleach. >> which tells me that someone probably tried to crane-- clean the crime scene. >> and then can a lead. was there a video record of what had happened? >> neighbor directly across from her apartment was having a

problem with some petty theft, so he decided to put up a motion camera. it is the type of camera that has to be activated by a sensor, so an animal or 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, to see her being carried out of that apartment. >> that is 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 are lucky, but you are unlucky.

>> yeah, i needed a cat to walk past their just the right time. >> no cat and still no lajoya mccoy. police put out a bulletin for a silver toyota camry, lajoya'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 drivers' windows were tinted. >> the officer took a closer look and he thought it. it was a body. >> the identity of that body will solve one mystery, but the questions are only beginning. coming up-- >> who would want to do this? she's a mother. she's a sister. she's a daughter. i just couldn't understand it. >> i just felt like my world

had ended. >> lajoya'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. when "dateline" continues. hear olay super serum activates on skin to hydrate, smooth, visibly firm, brighten, and improve texture. it's my best skin yet. olay

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good morning, i am jessica layton with his r's top story. supreme court justice samuel alito is facing questions about impartiality about flying an upside down flag in front of his house. he stopped the steel symbol was visible days after the january 6 attack. the supreme court is deciding whether format has immunity in a january 6 related case. top ranked golfers to god he shall further with a strong showing at the pga championship, despite his arrest and released friday morning. he was charged with assaulting an officer while the officer was directing traffic. and now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline."

i am andrea canning. lajoya mccoy had been missing for a week when detectives searched her apartment and discovered a client crime scene. bloodstain hurt while in mattress and there was evidence of a cleanup. investigators did not think it looked like a robbery, but there was something or someone missing, lajoya. where was she ? back to josh mankiewicz with "the dead of night." less than two miles from lajoya mccoy's apartment set her 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 side? >> passenger-side, which tells us clearly the proper trader drove her to this location. she had ligature mark around her neck.

>> news spread quickly. a candlelight vigil was held at lajoya's apartment. nbc station , knbc was there. >> throughout the night, more gathered, word spread. lajoya mccoy was not missing anymore. >> i just felt like my world had ended. >> her aunt and uncle kept hoping it was all some kind of mistake. >> it is not going to be her. they are going to say, she is okay, or somebody else. >> 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 could not think of anyone who had an issue with lajoya, except maybe the father of her children, jose turner . >> she'd moved on, and i think

he did not 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. >> jerk. yes, a jerk. trying to make her mad. >> and it was definitely, i know it had to be some envy in there. >> bernadette thought the same. >> i believe that he became very jealous of lajoya after a fall. >> because her life was going somewhere and he is kind of wasn't. >> right. i believe he was an inspiring-- aspiring actor that really was not getting many offers. >> and there really 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 the mother of his kids. >> yes. that's why i didn't understand it. you are 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 lajoya was still missing. >> mr. turner said, i'm going to stop answering any questions and you can talk to my lawyer. >> that have got to make everybody sit up a little taller in the saddle. >> that's a red flag for us, yes. >> while there was another side to jose, tammy devine was a journalist and aspiring filmmaker who got to know jose and lajoya. >> i remember seeing lajoya and jose with their kids

together and i was like, oh my goodness, i wish that, you know i was cool, calm, collected like these guys are. there was kindness there. >> is a respected lajoya, said tammy. 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. we can't, you know. initially in an investigation everybody is a suspect. we look at everything you know, and every body. >> tips started coming in to police. one from a local chiropractor who'd seen the news reports about lajoya. he told detectives he met lajoya and a friend of hers at a restaurant about a week earlier . turns out, that was the night bernadette was out with lajoya. detectives reviewed the restaurant's security cameras, and there was the chiropractor. he is seen talking with lajoya,

and later leaving the restaurant. >> lajoya and her friend leave a couple of minutes later. does not look like anybody was following her and she does not look like she is having any trouble with anybody on her way out of the restaurant on her way to the car. so whatever happened on out there? >> correct. >> the chiropractor was one of the last people to see lajoya a lot, but history was cooperated by what detectives on the security cameras. he was nothing more than a hopeful citizen. and then there was something lajoya 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'd had before. >> and there was a new man she was falling for. >> and i remember reading that she'd 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. >> lajoya's cell phone records show that on the evening she was out with bernadette, the last time lajoya was seen alive , she was texting with someone. >> and the last person to be in contact with lajoya was not jose turner. >> no. >> coming up. >> she had expressed concern that someone could be stalking her peers >> and who was that? >> she never told me exactly. >> investigators head back to the scene of the crime, hoping to smoke out a suspect. >> i did that on purpose in that location so he would be uncomfortable. >> and then they sprang their track. >> he is like, do you have a suspect? i said, yes. and he said who? and i said, you.

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in any modern-day criminal investigation, a person's digital footprint can be insoluble as their actual fingerprints. unfortunately, in this case, lajoya'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? never find the phone, or the bedding or her purse? >> nothing. >> detectives were able to

obtain lajoya's cell phone records . they discovered the cell number that lajoya last texted belonged not to her ex, jose turner, and not to the new guy with the rooftop pool, but to lajoya's friend, luther walls, the guy who had helpfully driven by her apartment to check on her. like lajoya, luther owned a boutique. brown and his partner found him there. >> we are speaking with mr. walls, first name, luther, correct? >> correct. >> he said, they had been involved romantically, but now they were just friends? >> correct. >> my experience is when guys say that what that means is, i wanted to be involved romantically and she wanted to be just friends. >> yeah, that's probably-- that's what i took out of that too, but i didn't want to push that. >> luther knew what was coming. >> i knew they would probably go through the text messages

and i knew i was probably one of the last text messages she sent. >> luther kept the text that he received from lajoya and share them with detective brown. >> you get a good vibe off luther? >> i did. you know, doing this job a long time, you can tell generally when someone is lying. >> and he did not seem to be lying? >> not at all. >> detectives came to believe luther walls had nothing to do with lajoya's mother -- murder. >> you can tell by his phone that he wasn't at her apartment? >> correct. >> instead, luther helped detectives understand what was going on with lajoya just prior to her disappearance because luther had heard some of the same stories lajoya had told her mom and her friend, eva. >> she had expressed concerns that someone could be stalking her. she never told me exactly who. >> even without a name, luther did know exactly who lajoya 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 lajoya believed detectives -- jose had a locksmith make a key to her apartment while she wasn't there. >> i believe it was her sixth sense of fear kicking it, she knew she was in danger. >> just not in time. >> correct. which unfortunately, i've seen that occur a lot in my career. >> and perhaps, this was about the time of the investigation when jose turner's sixth sense was kicking it because holy-- jose picked up the phone and called monrovia pd. the call was reported. >> i want to be able to pick up

their kids if that is possible. >> kids' games and things he said were still in lajoya's apartment. >> monrovia pd told jose to call detectives me and went brown's phone rang, he saw an opportunity. >> i want to get back some close. >> year, but we need to talk about whatever happened to your ex, the baby's mom. >> i don't know, and i don't have anything to say about that, sir. >> 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 1:30, 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 is 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 lajoya? you don't want to know about the investigation or anything? yes, yeah-- >> now that you bring it up, i do. >> yeah, he's like, do you have a suspect? i said, yes. and he said, who? and i said, you. >> they submitted jose turner's dna to the lab and they waited while lajoya'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 >> to see him there was disturbing. >> like nothing happened, like nothing. >> david and alisha knew something had happened. they'd seen it with their own eyes. lajoya's family shares a chilling story about her relationship with jose turner, and they are not the only ones with a tale to tell. coming up. >> he beat me so bad, i rent out the house naked. >> an eerie conversation. >> it was like i was speaking with lajoya. >> the stories were that similar? >> yes. >> could a single phone call crack this case? >> that's the missing piece? >> yes.

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and they're all coming? those who are still with us, yes. grandpa! what's this? your wings. light 'em up! gentlemen, it's a beautiful... ...day to fly.

welcome back. who killed lajoya mccoy? detectives the writing on the father of her children, jose turner. as jose collected his kids' belongings from the crime scene, they obtained his dna for testing. soon, someone wants close to how they would drop a bombshell and break this case wide open. but first, lajoya's family shared their own tale, with

the conclusion of "the dead of night" here is josh mankiewicz. pasadena california, april 2013. it was close to 2:00 a.m.. david and alisha were jolted awake. >> just heard some frantic banging and hanging. >> it grew louder. >> at first we were thinking, it's the police and maybe somebody was trying to break in. >> someone was pounding on their front door. david got up to see who it was. >> and then we just here, uncle david. >> i am 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 and 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 is probably three feet tall in front of that apartment building, and then it has been cast iron rods with points on a tip. she jumped over that to get to my place to get away from him. >> lajoya 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 she ran out the door. >> in terror, lajoya 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, lajoya 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 is when detective brown heard from the crime lab. they'd tested the dna found on lajoya'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. >> gel 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 grandkids' 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 adrian 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 rent out the house naked. you see, he kept me naked. i had to stay naked, that way you don't go out the house. >> for adrian, lajoya's story was like a bad memory. >> i felt sick , like that could have been me. you know? that could've been me. >> it was like i was speaking with lajoya. >> the stories where that similar? >> yes. >> in summer 2013, jose went on trial for lajoya's murder. >> when you take this to a jury

, you want to be able to prove it beyond any possible doubt. >> fernando barreto prosecuted the case and said it the evidence was overwhelming. a bloodsoaked note found in lajoya's car in her own right and documented jose's stocking 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 adrian, whose own story echoed lajoya's. and then one more thing, those items missing from lajoya'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's---- it says, i will 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 went to her uncle's house. >> how is jose not locked up that night >> she did not call the police and she did not want the police involved here too because she thinks it will make it worse?

>> yes. and she is not wrong i have cases where the women called the police, they agreed to prosecute and the end of being murdered. so, what is the right way? i wish i knew. >> lajoya did to 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 he would not take that ultimate step and kill her. >> it is crazy when all you have going for you is hoping. >> i don't disagree. i think 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. today, lajoya's aunt and uncle have become parents all over again. lajoya's two children came to live with them. >> we adopted them. so they are our kids.

>> and how are they? >> they are doing well. i mean, you wonder what is going through their mind. >> david and alisha say that when lajoya disappeared, jose told the kids she had abandoned them. >> you told them the truth about what happened to her? >> they asked in certain ways and when i told them, i won't hide anything from you, i will tell you as much as i can. the oldest son told me my dad tricked us? 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, nor the future she wanted. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning, thank you for watching. tching.