Two Models Have Been Found Dead In Downtown LA Apartments Just Two Days Apart

Two models were found dead just two days apart in their downtown L.A. apartments last week, spawning questions from their families. In a report from the Los Angeles Times, investigators are looking into the possibility of 32-year-old Nichole Coats and 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney being murdered.

Affectionately known as “Nikki” by friends and family, Coats was found dead inside her apartment after her family hadn’t heard from her over the weekend. "I went in and I turned the corner, I went over — she's covered up — I went over and touched her and said 'Nicole?,'" her father, Guy Edward Coats Jr., told KCAL News. "I touched her arm and she was just like stone."

Coats’ mother, May Stevens, also described her lifeless body, saying that it appeared that Coats was possibly fighting for her life. “I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. That’s not somebody who just laid in their bed and died,” Stevens said.

Mooney, an aspiring model and real estate agent, was found last Tuesday (September 12) at the Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments, per Law & Crime. While Coats’ death has been deemed “suspicious,” Mooney’s death has launched a homicide investigation. The families of the victims are concerned that a predator or serial killer is targeting Black women located in DTLA.

“That scared us all, because now we feel that it's related," Linda St. Clair, Coats' aunt, told KCAL News. "She wasn't far from where Nicole lived and they were the same age bracket and she was a model."

Both cases remain under investigation.