According to the police officials, the suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Lakiri, was taken into custody after she reportedly shot and killed 29-year-old woman, Laurielle, and left the victim’s 7-year-old daughter with her mother’s body for hours. Officers, who responded to a shooting call, made contact with the 7-year-old child, who opened the door for them. The girl, who was not identified due to her age, told the officers that her mom was sleeping on the sofa.
The responding officers removed the blanket and realized that the woman was not sleeping, but was shot in the head and dead. During an interview with investigators, the little girl, who was not identified due to her age, reportedly said that Lakiri and a man were at the apartment when she went to sleep the night before. The child also said that she was sleeping in her mom’s room when Lakiri woke her up in the morning and told her to go to her room to sleep. Lakiri then told the girl that her mother was sleeping and saw her put the blanket over her mother. Lakiri then left the girl alone with her mother’s body.
The 25-year-old suspect then took Laurielle’s phone and talked on Instagram and claimed a man was the killer. Lakiri claimed the man had a hit out on Laurielle. Lakiri reportedly gave different versions of what happened in the apartment, which raised the suspicions of Laurielle’s family members. According to investigators, Laurielle’s apartment had cameras that did not capture the murder but showed events leading up to it. Investigators reportedly said that a camera showed Lakiri picking up Laurielle’s cellphone while she is sleeping and scrolling through it around 10:30 a.m. Minutes later, a gunshot can be heard with the bullet casing hitting the floor.
Authorities believe Lakiri killed Laurielle because she thought Laurielle was flirting with her boyfriend. After seeing the messages on Laurielle’s phone, Lakiri shot her to death. After the shooting, Lakiri can be heard talking to the girl and waking the man in the apartment, who apparently slept through the ordeal. Lakiri and the man then left and returned to the apartment several times, each time leaving with different items. The 25-year-old suspect called 911 and hung up so dispatchers couldn’t get ahold of her. During an interview with investigators, Lakiri nitially denied she was at the apartment the day of the murder. She changed her story once confronted with the video evidence.
