Family hopes to find killer 25 years after loved one’s murder

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    Atlanta, GA (WGCL) — This month marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Nacole Smith. Her family held a vigil at the spot where she was killed –a wooded trail that has been overgrown with trees.

All these years later, they haven’t given up working to find her killer.

“A piece of our puzzle that we’ve been missing for 25 years now,” said Cassandra Bolding, Smith’s friend.

Friends and family walked through this wooded area off Campbellton road – 25 years since 14-year-old Nacole Smith was brutally raped, beaten, and shot twice in the head as she walked to school.

She’d left a school project at the house and took a short cut through the woods to retrieve it.

“She took her last breath there, it was the last place she was alive, and I walked there, because I wanted to be able to feel her last breath,” said Acqunellia Smith, Nacole’s mom.

They held a prayer service and marched to where smith’s body was found.

“Someone knows something, so it’s about keeping her memory alive, keeping this at the forefront of everyone’s mind,” Bolding added.

The killer has been a free man all these years.

He attacked another young girl in east point a few years later – that DNA matched DNA taken from Nacole’s crime scene. The girl was also able to help police create a sketch of what he looks like.

“We’re very much looking forward to the day when justice is served,” Bolding said.

CSI Atlanta has kept Nacole’s case in the spotlight and worked with a GBI forensic artist to create an updated sketch of the killer.

“We miss her very much, she was a true, dear friend, and we’re hoping that this year, definitely, is the last year that we’re saying we’re hoping they catch him,” said another friend, Taundra Johnson.

Investigators recently told Smith’s mom they are using a new technique hoping to find the man responsible for Smith’s murder.

“She would have been such a positive figure in the world,” said Nacole’s brother, Aubrey Smith.

Until then, friends and family say they think of Nacole every single day…

“I could be watching TV, and I’ll go, oh God, that lady looked like Nacole,” Smith said.

…and continue to pray for justice.

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