Ja’Nautica Juju La’Shay Whitehead was 19 and had enrolled in college to become a certified medical assistant while working at a local Waffle House when her life was cut short. In the months before her death she tried to distance herself from a former high school boyfriend, 25-year-old Deeron Hicks, who repeatedly assaulted and strangled her and threatened her with a gun. Two weeks before the killing, Hicks confronted her at work, choked her and chased her with a firearm.

On November 25, 2022, as Ja’Nautica was driving to work, Hicks followed her and—according to phone records—called her repeatedly until she pulled over. He then shot her twice in the head at close range. The next day officers found her body in a car in a wooded area off Snapfinger Parkway in Decatur, Georgia; she was still in her Waffle House uniform. Hicks was arrested on December 17, 2022, charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and later convicted and sentenced to life plus five years.

Did anyone who knew Ja’Nautica notice signs of the abuse she endured or have information about the period leading up to November 25, 2022?