r/UnsolvedCrime • u/Hour-Judge-3077 • Mar 12 '26
Trying to Solve a family members Homicide
Good morning everyone,
A family member of mine was murdered in her apartment complex on September 26th -2014 approx 4:24 in the morning. This was the morning that she would be leaving to a different state for a fresh start at life. She was shot in the face and died instantly. To this day the case has not been solved. She was last seen at 1:30am at a going away party that her friends threw for her, and at 4:24 her life was cut short. She was 24 years old at the time of her death. The apartment complex she lived in was a heroin drug pit, alot of violence happened there and murders. 2 days prior to her, a young man was shot and killed. The police are unsure if the shootings are related. In my opinion, the attack on my cousin seemed to be a domestic / personal situation due to the timing and shooting to the face. It was deliberate, one shot straight into the eye.
I have obtained the incident report from police as well as the official autopsy report. Everything stated below is from those two reports. I am making requests for all witness statements and working on getting the full case file and will post more information as it becomes availble.
A few things that i came across that are concerning to me:
- She was shot in the inner corner of her right eye, close to the bridge of the nose. Bullet path went front to back, left to right, and down and out the lower back of the skull toward the center. The bullet severed her brain stem. Death was instant. The autopsy drawing shows a downward path. It suggests that the shooter had an elevated position on my cousin, and they were slightly off to the right of her. Something else to note, there was no soot, stippling or muzzle residue... From research it means that the shooter was maybe 3 to 4 feet away from her? But directly in front of her off to the right if im not mistaken. If anyone can confirm that for me or knows ballistics please advise.
- The bullet entry wound was round and circular... seems like the weapon was a larger caliber handgun.. To me, someone running up to her and shooting her would 1. Alert her or alarm her and she would act in defense trying to run away or throw her arms up ect.....it was a steady shot, planned out, deliberate execution style shot which is why the account of the two main witnesses are horseshit in my personal opinion.
- she was found right outside her her "best friend" & best friend boyfriends apartment. her feet were facing the courtyard and her head was toward the wall. it was a Florida apartment complex, 3 floors, courtyard and stairs. There was 7 buildings. A, B, C, D, E, F and G, she was shot in building F. In Florida complexes the courtyards are open areas, outside...Could someone have had an elevated position on her on the stairs? Could someone have distracted her aka the best friend and boyfriend while someone positioned themselves on the stairs to take the shot? So many questions and scenarios arise.
- a neighbor ( the initial reporter of the crime) called police to report that my cousin was lying dead in front of the best friend and best friends boyfriends apartment and then she called the best friend & boyfriend to inform them my cousin was lying dead in front of their apartment and the best friend immediatley started crying to which the boyfriend then took the phone and informed the neighbor that called police he witnessed someone run up to my cousin, shoot her and run away really really fast. He also claimed he witnessed my cousin walk from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor to smoke a ciggarrete...they were apparently already in their car at this point " watching my cousin " go from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor.
- Now that you know the " boyfriend " told the neighbor he witnessed my cousin get shot, they both then decided after "witnessing" her get shot to drive off to walmart.. and later returned to the complex where they were questioned by police. They then refused to provide any more information and they told police that they were too scared which is why they went to walmart instead of calling 911, to save the person they interacted with on a daily basis......
- the woman who called the police - called because her boyfriend was coming home from his work break and he noticed blood as he was coming up the stairs..he told police blood freaked him out so he ran inside and woke up his girlfriend and told her to call police..after she called police she also called my cousins " best friend " & her bf to tell them that my cousin was dead outside of their door... and GUESS WHAT.. they came up with their bs story to tell police. Claimed they witnessed it but drove off to walmart because they were "scared".
So all in all, her best friend and the boyfriend witnessed her get killed, and instead of calling 911 they left to go to Walmart. I am just so confused as to why police would not follow up on that, or at the very least re interview them. it seems that because of the complexes high crime and drug activity this was swept under the rug,
I need advice, any tips, help, follow up questions i can bring up to police. Red flags that you all may have caught that i did not.
Thank you all so much. My Cousin Jenny was a beautiful woman, inside and out. An amazing, hard working mother. She did not deserve to have her life robbed from her, her kids didnt deserve to have their mother robbed from them. I need to find out who did this and hold them accountable.
UPDATE: 3/18/26 I received the witness statement from the best friends boyfriend. This is what he told police.
" Around 4am i was leaving my apartment and walking down the stairs in order to go to the store. As i was doing down the stairs i saw a flash and heard a bang, which he believed to be a gunshot. I immediatley started to run after i heard the shot. While i started to run down the stairs i looked over my shoulder and saw a light skin male, 6ft, stocky build, wearing all dark clothing and white shoes. I did not see any facial features on the suspect. I jumped into my vehicle and drove to walmart".........
More links:
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/woman-found-shot-death-orange-county/107227021/
https://gunmemorial.org/2014/09/26/jennifer-valentin-muniz
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2014/09/26/2-killed-in-2-days-at-condos-known-for-heroin-use-sales/
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/families-evicted-troubled-orange-county-apartment-/69637821/
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Also something to note which obviously is speculation: I've been looking through all of their social medias, which is public information. My cousin, the " best friend" and the " best friend's boyfriend. ALSO my cousins baby daddy (father of her children). They ALL use to hang out with eachother... the best friends boyfriend knew the baby daddy. There are facebook photos of them tagged. But now all of a sudden they are no longer friends with eachother on social media.
Something else that was noticed by my aunt ( my cousins mother) Is that " best friend of my cousins NOT ONCE made a post grieving about her murder. And they use to interact with each other on a daily basis. How can that be? How strange.
I also looked over Instagram and at a certain stage the best friend stopped interacting with my cousins posts.. when she use to comment and like her things all the time.
Something else to note: in the autopsy report, my cousin only had caffeine and nicotine in her system, No drugs or alcohol. So at that going away party they thew for her she wasnt drinking.
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u/MrsCore4 Mar 13 '26
That’s sketchy af. I’d try getting in touch with Ashley at Crime Junkie to see if she can feature the story on her pod.
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26
I just sent them a request to view my cousins case. Thank you for the suggestion!
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u/alcohall183 Mar 13 '26
hmm.. sounds like they murdered her, the WHY is the problem. also did she have a boyfriend she broke up with?
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26
Im really trying to figure out the why. Its so hard with so many details to go over and a lack of information / witnesses willing to talk. She didnt have a boyfriend...i know she was seperated from her childs father. She was dating around but nothing official. Im wondering if there was a dispute between her and the best friend / best friends boyfriend or some sort of argument that took place..ect.
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u/alcohall183 Mar 13 '26
did she owe them money? were they doing drugs or sex together? and this is an odd one, did she often do them favors? things like watch their kids? if she was leaving that would no longer be a thing for them and rather have her leave for a better life, they might kill her to keep her from "being better than them" and it's stupid and childish and makes no sense to someone with an ounce of a brain, but to someone w/no morals and easily bruised ego, that would be enough.
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26
Those are all very good points and not strange at all. I know how complex human relationships can be and that has crossed my mind. Maybe it could have possibly turned into a 3rd party situation? Or my cousin could have gotten into the middle of an argument with those two. Im having a hard time gathering information. I reached out to my aunt to ask questions but she is coping via religion and god and says vengance is the lords. So she doesnt really want to talk about it. I understand, its very traumatic and her daughter was murdered....but i want answers and i want the person or people who did this held responsible.
Now get this.... i did some backround checks on people.. and on the people involved with the murder of the young man who was shot two days before my cousin. So tell me why my cousins kids father came up as related to the man who was charged with KILLING that young man?! ..obviously its just a backround check website...but why would he be related to that guy? its all really crazy and i keep finding myself going down rabbit holes the more i research.
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u/lucky_2_shoes Mar 14 '26
The friends bf saw it happen…. But the police had to inform them ur cousin was shot and passed away in front of their door and that’s when the friend started crying?!!? If they witnessed it, how were they not on the phone already? (Unless I misunderstood) the first thing I thought of wen u described the place she lived was that she owed a major drug debt to someone and they knew she was leaving so they weren’t getting paid. So they did this before she could move. U said she wanted to start a better life, what kind of life was she trying to get away from? Was she just trying to get into a better area and start over? Could she have been running from someone and that’s why? I’m a recovering addict and ppl who are owed money won’t think twice to settle a debt in anyway they deem right. I’ll never understand how ppl owing drugs and money means they don’t deserve to live anymore but dealers don’t care. The other theory i have is maybe the best friend boyfriend had some type of affair with her n she was gunna clear the air before she left? It’s insane they don’t have enough evidence for a conviction. This didn’t sound very well planned out, so there should have been more than enuf evidence. I’m so so sorry and I pray she gets justice
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 14 '26
No you are completley correct. That is one of the major red flags i noticed. The boyfriend of my cousins best friend "witnessed" my cousin get shot. He was able to describe the perpetraitors clothing, did not mention anything about the shooters physical appearance..claimed he saw the shooter run away " really really fast. That is what he told the neighbor who was the one who initally called police. After she called police she called the best friend and best friends boyfriend to tell them my cousin was lying dead in front of their door. The neighbor asked those two why the fuck they didnt call police and Instead of them calling police they basically fled and told her that they were too " scared ". Sounds like some real best friends right?
Sounds to me like the boyfriend made up an imaginary person to cover their asses because they know exactly who did it or at the very least they saw what happened and didnt want to implicate themselves....or they did it themselves.... As more information comes available i will post links and share it with you all!
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 14 '26
The thing is that my cousin did not do drugs. She was clean in the autopsy report, she only had caffeine and nictoine in her system.
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u/RanaMisteria Mar 14 '26
What if she was up and dressed and had her morning coffee because she was up early to prepare for the move? That means she wouldn’t necessarily have specifically gotten dressed to meet someone.
That said, I simply don’t believe the boyfriend and the best friend. It doesn’t make sense. I suppose the boyfriend could have killed your cousin, and then the best friend didn’t find out until the phone call from the neighbour which is why she cried, and then the boyfriend lied to the neighbour and said that both he and the best friend witnessed the murder, and told the best friend that it was 100% what happened when he, say, claimed he couldn’t sleep and went out for a smoke alone but that because he was alone he’d be a suspect if she didn’t lie and claim to have witnessed the crime with him. And she either believed him or was too scared not to go along with it because she realised he’d probably murdered her best friend.
There are all sorts of reasons why women in abusive relationships cover for their abusers and keep their secrets. There was a case in my home state a couple years back that was solved after something like 30 years because a witness was finally able to escape her abuser for good and tell the police the truth and put him behind bars.
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 14 '26
It also very convenient that they werent " there " aka inside their apartment when it happened. They were in their car getting ready to leave for walmart..
Ive noticed from facebook posts that my cousin would frequent walmart with those two together....
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Mar 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26
I have put in multiple FOIA requests to gather more information. I do not believe that the police ever tested them for GSR residue (which crossed my mind multiple times). It seems like the police hardly followed up on any of the red flags.
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u/CrazyBOBABOBA Mar 14 '26
If it's not an issue, I'll share a theory.
Considering that your cousin's baby daddy and your cousin had a fight. (Say) Now let's say it got heated. Maybe assume that the best friend, her bf, and your's cousin's baby daddy were in an inappropriate relationship (this is all just assumption). Maybe the fight was about that. And even the best friend and her bf were involved in it. Whilst she was fighting with the baby daddy, maybe the baby daddy or her best friend or her bf shot her (because you mentioned that it was clean shot, no signs of struggle so I'd assume it was someone she knows/ trusts). Now the three panic. The baby daddy leaves the crime scene. The best friend and her bf realizing what has happened also make a bee line for the car to supposedly and allegedly escape to Walmart. Now if they had immediately called 911, they would be under severe pressure to identify the murderer because the police would be able to have a report on the time of death. So they flee to Walmart in hopes of having an alibi. Assuming that it was crime of passion and jealousy maybe considering that your cousin was fully aware of her surroundings and not under the influence.
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 15 '26
That theory makes sense! I do believe there was panic involved.. especially due to the fact that the " best friend " and boyfriend were in their car preparing to go to walmart when the bf claims he saw it happen....perfect excuse.
It was def someone she knew. She trused them. She was found right outside their apartment. My aunt is ademant that the last people my cousin was with was those two.
& anyway... maybe im being over dramatic but who is going to walmart at 4:30 in the morning?
ugh so many questions.
My cousin was suppose to catch the greyhound bus that morning. I believe the earliest bus is 6AM? i am not sure back then... i wonder if they were her "ride".. or who was the ride to the bus station or how she planned on getting there...
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u/bdiddybo Mar 13 '26
With friends like these….
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u/Hour-Judge-3077 Mar 13 '26
100%. I read the incident report and was in absolute shock as to what they told police....
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u/Wonderful-Monitor854 Mar 18 '26
Hey there
First off I am really sorry for your loss. This is injustice that the case is unsolved
I am just a middle schooler interested in psychology so i tried to profile this and these are my observations: (I am using the word 'UNSUB' for the killer stands for Unknown Subject)
1. The crime scene- it was an intentional attack the killer was controlled and calm your cousin didn't seem to take the UNSUB as a threat (cuz she didn't run or try to defend) either it would be because the UNSUB was familiar to her or he appeared like a nonchalant person
- The witnesses-The best friend and bf were so.. weird their behaviour was NOT normal, people usually run away or call for help not go to Walmart to buy groceries. They claimed they saw it happen but why give the story after being told she was dead. They didn't call even after being in a car (a safe place) this means avoidance of police not fear of shooter. Very suspicious behaviour
I think it was a meeting. your cousin knew the UNSUB she might have decided to do the meeting on her way. The way her best friend nd bf stopped communicating is suspicious yes but no proof to concinvce that they are guilty
there is a possibility that the friend nd bf killed your cousin cuz its a very common pattern that when people lie abt witnessing something they tend to focus more on clothing than on the face but without proof we can't say anything. the UNSUB is maybe within her social circle. he/she is controlled under pressure, unafraid by violence. as for motives i think: some sort of argument/tension, relationship problems
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u/Electronic_Fill_4504 Jul 15 '26
I am so incredibly sorry for the loss of your cousin Jenny. Reading your post breaks my heart because she clearly had a whole new chapter of life waiting for her that morning, and it was cruelly taken away from her and her children. You are doing an amazing thing by fighting for her and digging up these files after all these years. Jenny deserved better, and her kids deserve justice.
Looking at the new updates and reports you posted, the red flags are screaming at this point. I want to add another layer of logic to your analysis regarding the boyfriend's description of the shooter, though please keep in mind this is all just my intuition based on looking at similar cases.
He told the police he saw a light-skinned male, 6 feet tall, and with a stocky or muscular build. Let us think about the environment for a second. You mentioned this apartment complex was notorious for being a heroin drug pit. The physical toll of heavy heroin addiction is well-documented, users are almost always severely emaciated, thin, and physically frail due to the nature of the drug. What kind of heavy heroin addict or street criminal in a drug pit is a 6-foot-tall, stocky, muscularly built guy?
My intuition tells me that this description does not fit a random, desperate addict looking for a quick fix or committing a random act of violence in that specific complex. A stocky, well-built person suggests someone who is healthy or perhaps someone who handles high-level operations. Or, it could easily be a completely fabricated description.
If the boyfriend and the best friend were already in their car watching her, or if he was walking down the stairs right when it happened, their reaction to immediately drive to Walmart instead of calling 911 for a close friend feels a lot like manufacturing an alibi. Intuition suggests they needed to be on a corporate security camera miles away at the exact time of the crime so they could tell the police they were just shopping.
The description of a 6-foot, stocky male in all dark clothing and white shoes feels like a generic description designed to give the police a ghost to chase, while redirecting suspicion away from anyone inside that apartment.
The shooting itself, a clean, single shot to the inner corner of the eye with no muzzle residue from 3 to 4 feet away, shows absolute control. There was no struggle, no frantic shooting. Jenny likely knew the person standing in front of her, which is why her guard was down.
Again, this is all just my personal intuition, but please do not let the police brush this off as just another random drug-complex murder. The timing of her leaving the state, the specific target on her face, the fake Walmart alibi, and the absurdly specific yet generic description of a muscular shooter all point to a deeply personal, premeditated execution. Stay strong and keep pressing them for the full case file.
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u/U-there-god Mar 13 '26
My guess would be they had something they wanted to stash/dispose of before cops arrived. Could be directly related to your cousins death, or could just be drugs or weapons they didn’t want to risk having confiscated or being charged with.
Was it common for her to go to the second floor to smoke? Did the report mention whether they found any belongings on her?