On the evening of Thursday, January 4, 2007, firefighters responded to a fire at the Sedona Apartments at 38th and Emerson on Indianapolis’ near east side. They forced entry and found the heaviest smoke coming from the bedroom, where 59-year-old Joyce A. Parham was discovered. The coroner ruled her death a homicide; she had been stabbed before the fire was set. Investigators concluded the fire was deliberately started to conceal evidence.

Parham lived alone and was remembered by family as a humanitarian who helped others. Despite work by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the fire department’s arson investigators, no arrests were ever announced and no suspects were publicly identified. The case later became one of Marion County’s unsolved homicides.

If anyone knew Joyce, lived near Sedona Apartments, or saw anything on the night of January 4, 2007, please come forward with information.