By Tiffany Williams –
Baltimore — The hour was quiet. The streets nearly empty. Just before 4 a.m. on March 2, 1996, the city was settling into that eerie stillness that only exists in the darkest stretch of night.
Then the call came in.
Police rushed to the 6300 block of York Road after reports of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found 23-year-old Joann “Jody” Elizabeth LeCornu inside her car. She had been shot. The wound was fatal.
But the story of that night did not begin in that parking lot.
Earlier in the evening, LeCornu had been out socializing. Investigators say she spent time at the Mount Washington Tavern. At some point later, she stopped at the Curb Shoppe Bar in the 5700 block of Falls Road, where she made a purchase before leaving again.
From there, LeCornu drove to the Drumcastle Shopping Center in the 6300 block of York Road.
She was sitting in her car in the parking lot.
That is when the suspect appeared.
Investigators say the man approached the vehicle while LeCornu remained seated inside. What happened next remains a mystery that has haunted detectives for decades. It is not known exactly how long the suspect spent at the vehicle or if there was any interaction with LeCornu.
But at some point, a single gunshot shattered the silence.
The bullet struck LeCornu in the back while she was still seated in the car.
What happened next is both tragic and chilling.
After being shot, LeCornu managed to drive away.
Her vehicle pulled out onto York Road and crossed the street into the parking lot of the York Road Plaza. The wounded woman drove through the lot before finally stopping.
But the suspect was not finished.
Police say the man followed her vehicle across the street. When the car stopped, the suspect approached again, reached inside and took something from the vehicle before leaving the scene.
Detectives processed the car carefully. Fingerprints were recovered from both the inside and the outside of the vehicle.
Record checks of the fingerprints were negative for a suspect.
Witnesses came forward with a description of the man they saw leaving the area.
They told investigators the suspect drove away southbound on York Road in a white BMW.
The man was described as a black male with a stocky build, wearing a drab or green-colored army or camouflage style coat.
Nearly three decades later, the case remains unsolved.
Investigators believe someone out there knows what happened that night.
Detectives believe that the suspect would not have been able to keep the incident to himself and that someone has information that would help solve this case.
Authorities continue to urge anyone with information to come forward. Information may also be provided anonymously by contacting Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-756-2587(7LOCKUP). Information provided by phone or online through Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.
And so the questions remain — lingering in the quiet spaces left behind by a life cut short.
Who approached that car in the early morning darkness?
Why did a young woman who had simply been out for the evening end up shot inside her own vehicle?
And who, somewhere out there, still knows the answer.
Crime Beat Nation 