Family fights for justice after woman found naked, stabbed in backseat of car in Stockton
STOCKTON - After a woman was found dead, stabbed multiple times, family members gathered Wednesday night for a memorial calling for justice.
Those who loved 23-year-old Lexus Tafoya say they will not stop fighting until the person who brutally murdered her is behind bars.
"I cry every morning, I cry in my sleep. I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack, it hurts so bad, you know?" said aunt Tina Cordova through tears.
Cordova found her niece Lexus Tafoya on Nov. 10, dead in the backseat of her roommate's car.
"I open the door to the car and I see my niece's body there. She was stabbed all over and she was naked. That's the last memory that I have of her," said Cordova.
Family gathered in this very spot to light candles in her memory Wednesday.
Stockton police confirmed there have been no arrests or suspects identified in this case. This is the third violent crime to happen on Sikh Temple Rd. since August.
Family describes Lexus Tafoya as loving, caring and her brother's biggest protector.
"We are always together. She is the closest person in life to me," said brother Anthony Tafoya. "Everyone who was around her -- they loved her."
Family started to worry when Lexus did not respond to calls or texts in the days leading up to her body being found, fearing the worst and finding their nightmare had come true.
"I would have died for her. I would have took her spot if anything. I would have tried to save her. I was out here looking all night for her," said her aunt, Valentina McKay.
Wednesday night, more than 20 members of the family gathered to remember Lexus and to fight for justice, saying they won't stop until the killer is found.
"That's my baby. That's my baby they killed. I hope they see that image that I've seen and it haunts them until they turn themselves in," said Cordova.
They say this, too often, is the story of Stockton -- families grieving a senseless loss. They are hoping and praying for change on the city's streets.
"She didn't deserve to die like that. My niece would have gave you the shoes off her feet, she would have fed you before she fed herself," said McKay.
Family members speculate that Lexus may have been killed elsewhere and her body dumped in the vehicle that was parked on Sikh Temple Road.
"She looked like she was killed and thrown in there like she was trash," said Cordova.
Flyers have been posted around town, asking for answers from anyone who knows what happened to Lexus Tafoya or who she was with on Nov. 9.
"There's too many unsolved murders out here already, we are not gonna let my niece go unsolved. We are not," said McKay.
Family members are hosting a community event on Saturday, Nov. 19 meeting at Bank of America on Martin Luther King Boulevard at 12 p.m. to go in groups to hand out flyers, collect donations for her funeral costs and ask everyone they come across to keep their eyes and ears open.
