BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati police say finding Laquitta Elliott's car may lead to her killer.
The 24-year-old woman's decomposed body was found Friday in her Bond Hill apartment, about three weeks after she was last seen alive. Her 1998 Pontiac Grand Am is still missing. The red car with a dark gray interior had the license plate WAL 532, a "Pierson Automotive" bumper sticker and handcuffs hanging from the rear-view mirror.
"That's a real key right now is to find that car," said Sgt. John Newsom, a homicide unit supervisor.
Clues could aid police in figuring out what happened to her and why.
Her mother is waiting for answers.
Deborah Elliott-Freeman remembers her daughter as a happy 1993 Woodward High graduate who loved to sing and to model.
"She wanted to live a glamorous life," her mother said.
She also was someone struggling to make it on her own. By day, she worked as a nurse's aide. By night, she worked as a dancer.
Ms. Elliott-Freeman saw this fall as a life-changing season for her daughter.
Laquitta Elliott had just rented an apartment on Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill. She told friends she was going to invite her family over when she got her apartment together.
But the last time her family heard from her was about the first of October, her mother said.
"It was strange for her not to call," she said. "It's always normal for her to be seen or to be heard. She was just like a spark when she was around."
A blue note asking her to call a friend stayed posted on Laquitta Elliott's door for two weeks. Her neighbors began complaining of an odor in the hallway. Security workers alerted police Friday when they entered her apartment and discovered her body.
It took days before the Hamilton County coroner's office could positively identify her. Her death was ruled a homicide, but police have not disclosed how she was killed.
Laquitta Yvonne Elliott was born in Springfield, Ohio, and lived most of her life in Washington, D.C. She came back to Ohio in her teens and lived in Springfield with her father and in Cincinnati with her mother.
She lived with a boyfriend for a while and then with a family friend, her mother said, but she ventured on her own and was developing a career as a nursing aide.
"She always told me if her grandparents ever went into a nursing home, she would take care of them herself," her mother said. "She had compassion for them. They were strong influences in her life." She also enjoyed writing poetry and was meticulous about her appearance.
Ms. Elliott-Freeman worried about her daughter being financially and emotionally responsible for herself.
"She just liked to have fun," she said. "And that was where a lot of our confrontations started."
There were things Laquitta Elliott's family didn't know about her, such as her evening job working as a dancer. Police don't yet know whether that contributed to her death. And her family would rather focus on other aspects of her life.
"She was a sweet, caring, happy person that brought a lot of love any time she was around," her mother said. "She was well-loved."
Police ask that anyone with information about her death call Crime Stoppers at 352-3040. Callers may remain anonymous and can earn cash for clues that lead to an arrest
