***UPDATED***
I had the opportunity to communicate with Julia’s daughter, Elizabeth. She gave me more details regarding her mother, which is bolded in Julia’s section below. One of those changes was giving Julia her correct name. In different reports, it was listed as either Julie or Julia. Now I know real name, and I want my article to reflect that.
According to NPR, unsolved murders are at an all-time high, and the city of Jacksonville is no exception.
Here are seven women who have never received justice.
Out of all the cold case files on Project: Cold Case, I’m unsure why I chose Julia Vegas. Maybe it’s because of her first name, or perhaps it was the photo of the pretty Hispanic woman with a beautiful smile.
I looked at scant information and asked myself, “Who killed Julia Vegas?” I didn’t realize that question would take me down a rabbit hole, and what I found wasn’t pretty. Because the question soon became, “Who strangled all these women?”
In fact, what I found, and didn’t find, breaks my heart.
How does someone throw away a human body like they’re nothing but trash? These women were someone’s daughter, mother, sister, or aunt. They had hopes and dreams, but their lives were cut short, and someone, or several someones, have gotten with murder.
The saddest part?
In most cases, their homicides didn’t even make the newspaper. If it did, it was typically a few sentences in the police report.
Why is that? A part of that answer is because of where they were killed – Jacksonville, FL.
I asked ChatGPT to tell me about Jacksonville, and this is what it had to say:
- It’s the largest city in Florida, with a census of about 957,000. It’s also one of the fastest-growing areas in the United States.
- It has a diverse economy and is home to several Fortune 500 companies.
- It’s on the northeast coast of Florida, where the St. John’s River flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
- It has beautiful beaches, many outdoor recreational activities, and a subtropical climate with mild winters and hot summers.
- It has several military bases.
I then asked about the crime rate, and it told me that rate of violent crimes is higher than the national average. In 2020, Jacksonville had 151 murders, 558 rapes, 3,071 robberies, and 8,593 aggravated assaults totaling 12,373 violent crimes in just one year.
My last question was to ask about Jacksonville’s homicide solve rate. On average, 60% of the homicides were solved. The national average is 60-65%. To my rudimentary math skills, that means that of the 151 murders that occurred in Jacksonville in 2020, 61 have not been solved.
And according to a 2015 news report, there were about 1,500 unsolved murders going back to 1970. I can imagine that number has only grown.
That brings me back to Julia Vegas.
Julia Vernice Vegas was one of 10 children. She was born November 3, 1960, in Chicago, IL. She had two daughters and one son, and in 1997, she ended up in Jacksonville, FL.
Julia was living in a Woman’s Shelter at the time of her death. After having her two youngest children removed and placed in foster care, she was desperately trying to get her life together so she could be reunited with her children.
Someone took that away from her.
Julia was found on November 27, 1999, in an open garage behind the residence of 1338 Hubbard Street. Police determined that she had been strangled.
According to Elizabeth, before Julia was strangled, she was stabbed several times. But Julia was feisty and she was a fighter. She fought her assailant.
After killing her, her murderer then placed a tire over her face.
While I’m not a psychologist, both Elizabeth and I agree – Julia probably knew her killer. Attempting to cover their victim typically means that there is some sort of emotional attachment.
While the police report stated there would be a follow-up by homicide, they never caught her killer.
Who Killed Dianah Priester?
Let’s go back to 4 years before Julia. I wish I could tell you more about Dianah. I could find very little online and could not get the original police report. What I can tell you is this:
Dianah was born on January 11, 1971. She had two young daughters whom she loved very much. Sadly, she was never able to watch her daughters grow up. Dianah’s life was cut short on August 18, 1995, when she was only 24 years old. She was found strangled at 1112 Kennard Street, #3.
In 2012, as part of a DNA grant, her homicide was reviewed. Items were re-submitted for DNA testing, hoping that recent technology could provide more answers. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did receive the results. However, the case is still an ongoing investigation, and the analysis was redacted from the police report.
Who Killed Casandra Miller?
At 4:30 PM on September 12, 1996, the police received an anonymous phone call about the discovery of a woman’s naked body among trash and debris of a reported crack house. According to the police, she may have been there for more than a day. A couple of days later, she was identified as Casandra Evette Miller, who was 36 years old at the time of her death. While she had relatives in the Jacksonville area, she likely was a transient.
The house she was found in has been torn down and is now an empty lot.
We are seeing an increase in the number of homicides among people experiencing homelessness. It’s hard to find national statistics, but in 2021 Los Angeles saw the murders of 85 homeless people. In fact, transient people are more likely to be victims of crime instead of perpetrators.
Who Killed Lashanda McLaurin?
A couple out for a walk found Lashanda’s decomposed body in a wooded area just off a busy parkway. Due to the state of her remains, she remained unidentified for several days. Unfortunately, there is no other info about Lashanda. Someone killed her and left her body near a road like some people might toss litter.
Who Killed Jessica Walker?
Jessica Walker was only 23 years old when her body was found between an apartment complex and a truck lot. She hadn’t been there very long, and someone had attempted to partially conceal her body. Her father was a pastor and conducted the burial service for his beloved daughter. People considered Jessica to be a sweet girl, and she left behind a large family. Besides her parents, she was survived by her grandmothers, sisters, brother, many aunts and uncles, and nephews and nieces who loved her dearly.
Research shows nine out of ten women of color know their killer. Did Jessica know hers?
Who Killed Shakeerah Turner?
The second weekend of May 2013 was a particularly violent one in the vicinity of Kings Road and its adjacent neighborhoods. An apartment complex on fire only added to shootings and killings throughout the area. And in the mix of mayhem and violence, a woman was found face down in a stream that ran through Henry J. Klutho Park. She was identified as Shakeerah Turner, a 46-year-old woman whose life ended under an overpass. She was a beautiful woman who left behind many people who loved her, including her parents, her sister, and a man named Bobby from Savannah, GA.
Who Killed Stephanie Holmes?
Stephanie’s mother has been raising her granddaughters since the day Stephanie’s body was found in a grassy area in the 700 block of Houston Street. A homeless man, riding his bike, discovered Stephanie’s body at about 9 AM on July 15, 2013, in some bushes in an empty lot in downtown Jacksonville.
He told employees at a glass and mirror shop and then rode off. Investigators determined she had been dead for approximately two weeks. However, the heat and humidity of Jacksonville in July most likely sped up the decomposition process. Three little girls were left motherless that day, and her killer has not been found.
I wish I could convey the sadness I felt when researching these homicides. Or how their stories kept me awake at night.
All of these women were killed with impunity. They were black, and their murders got very little mention in the media. Information on their cases is challenging to find. The incident reports from the Sheriff’s office had the barest of details.
These women deserve more. They deserve justice.
I know we don’t have the expertise needed to solve these crimes, but we can help.
is a non-profit organization that provides funding for DNA testing and advanced technology to solve cold cases. We can help put theses women’s murderers behind bars and bring closure to their families.
Sources:
Project Cold Case
Florida Times-Union
News 4 Jax
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
You can forget about any cases of homeless/drug addicted females of color getting any attention from the police in Jacksonville Florida.