Jovanna Tyrica Jefferson was 17 when her body was found in a vacant lot in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 5, 2003. Her family had reported her missing on January 20, 2003. Jovanna, a Black female, was discovered alongside 19-year-old Surita Ann Cohen; both had been strangled.

Investigators linked Jovanna’s killing to a series of recent murders of young women in the area. Evidence including DNA, fiber analysis, cell phone records, and jewelry recovered from a suspect’s car tied 32-year-old cab driver Paul Durousseau to multiple crime scenes. Durousseau was arrested in June 2003 and indicted for Jovanna’s murder among others, though prosecutors chose to try him first for the 1999 murder of Tyresa Mack, using details from the other killings under the Williams rule. The state later entered a nolle prosequi on the charges related to Jovanna and three other women. Durousseau was convicted in the Mack case and ultimately sent to prison for life without parole after his initial death sentence was changed in December 2021.

Does anyone have memories of Jovanna, where she spent time, or information that could still help clarify the case?