Los Angeles police are investigating the deaths of two aspiring models who were found in apartment complexes within days of each other — a death police are treating as murder.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told ABC News on Sunday afternoon that the Sept. 12 death of Maleesa Mooney, 31, was being investigated as a homicide, while The death of Nichole “Nikki” Coats, 32, on September 10 is “an undetermined death at this point” and they will determine whether it could be investigated as a homicide once the department The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner will have completed their report and determined the cause of death.
When asked if the cases could be related, an LAPD spokesperson told ABC News on Monday that it was “too early” to make a decision and that they were still waiting for coroner’s reports.
According to a September 15 release from the LAPD, Mooney was found dead in an apartment on September 12 at approximately 3:54 p.m. local time by LAPD Central Area officers who responded to a radio call for a police check. Wellness at the 200 block of South Figueroa Street.
“Investigation revealed that Maleesa Mooney was murdered in her apartment. The exact cause of death of Maleesa Mooney is unknown, pending an autopsy to be conducted by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office,” the statement said.
Mooney’s family and friends held a rally in Los Angeles on Sunday evening to demand justice.
Mooney’s sister, Jourdin Pauline, spoke at the rally and told Los Angeles ABC station KABC in an interview Friday that the family became concerned after not being able to reach Mooney.
“We’re supposed to grow old together,” Pauline told KABC. “This isn’t supposed to happen to him.”
“She’s so kind, so genuine, so loving,” she added. “For someone to do what he did to my sister, with this caliber, is sick. It’s insane.”
Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Homicide Bureau have asked for the public’s help in the investigation, urging anyone with information about this case to come forward.
Asked about the status of the autopsy reports for the two women, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and Coroner’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Guy Coats, the father of Nichole “Nikki” Coats, who was found dead in her apartment on September 10, spoke to ABC News on Sunday evening and said the family was “distraught” after his daughter’s death.
“My daughter is such a beautiful person, it’s not just because she’s my daughter – she has it naturally,” Coats said.
Coats said her daughter worked from home as a sales representative, but was also an aspiring model.
The father said the last time he spoke with his daughter was Thursday, September 7, on FaceTime and she was with a cousin and friends.
“I said you were just having fun out there,” Coats said, adding that he told his daughter he loved her and would talk to her later.
Coats said that on Sunday, September 12, the cousin who was with his daughter on Thursday called him and told him that some of her friends couldn’t reach her and wanted the police to do a welfare check.
Coats said he was the only one with another key fob to enter her apartment, so he went to check on her and found her unconscious, “kind of lying there, her arm is outstretched and her fingers are relaxed.”
“And as soon as I touched her, she was like a rock,” he said. “So I called 911.”
“I didn’t look at her, it hurt too much,” he added.
Guy Coats said first responders arrived about five minutes later and coroners arrived after determining his daughter was dead.
“The appearance of the apartment was as usual. Everything was normal,” Coats said.
“I thought my baby had died in his sleep,” he said.
But Coats said his daughter’s mother, Sharon Coats, and some of her aunts became suspicious after learning that Mooney’s killing occurred two days after Nichole’s death at a downtown apartment complex of Los Angeles just “around the corner”.
Coats said that after his daughter’s death, his sisters asked him if they could contact the media to publicize the case because they feared a predator and he said that although he did not want to draw hasty conclusions, he had given them permission to do so. so because if there’s a predator out there – I said it might have nothing to do with my baby – but whatever it is, we need to at least report it.
Coats said the family is now waiting for the coroner’s report.
