Victoria Lacey

To her family, she was "Vicki," a beloved older sister who lit up every room she entered. Victoria Lacey, a 25-year-old female, was described by her sister Crystal Kinnard as her "favorite person in the whole world." The oldest of four siblings, Victoria was artistic, full of life, and inseparable from her younger sister in their early years. She loved to draw and always made people smile and laugh. But Victoria’s childhood was not easy, and she spent much of it on the streets, making choices that led to drug charges and time in prison. After her release, less than a year before her death, she was living with a roommate in Glendale, Arizona, and trying to get a fresh start. She spoke with her sister about checking into rehab and was even invited to move to Oklahoma for a new beginning. Her family was anxiously waiting to see her life take off, believing she deserved so much more than the hand she had been dealt.

In the pre-dawn hours of Monday, August 13, 2012, that chance for a new life was violently stolen. At approximately 4:15 a.m., a bleeding Victoria knocked on the door of a home near 47th Avenue and Frier Drive in Glendale, just a few blocks from her apartment. She told the resident she had been stabbed nearby and needed help. When police and paramedics arrived, the young woman was only able to state her name and say that she did not know who had attacked her before she succumbed to her injuries. An autopsy would later confirm she had been both beaten and stabbed.

The initial investigation by the Glendale Police Department struggled to find answers. Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and learned from a newspaper delivery person that around 3:30 a.m., about 45 minutes before Victoria sought help, he had seen two young Hispanic males spray-painting a vehicle in the area. However, he had not seen Victoria, and it remains unknown if the men were connected to her murder. Investigators learned from friends and family that it was not unusual for Victoria to be out walking in the early morning hours, but they could not determine exactly what she was doing that morning or why she was targeted.

For more than a decade, the case grew cold, leaving Victoria’s family in a painful limbo. Her sister Crystal searched for leads on her own in the weeks after the murder, but the trail went nowhere. "No family should have to go through this," her sister Kaley Sharpe said years later. "My mother should not have to bury her 1st born, I shouldn’t have to bury my sister." The lack of answers was agonizing. "It’s been 13 years and nothing," Kaley said in a 2025 interview. "No DNA. Nothing with (the) case. No one saw anything." Glendale police noted that a major difficulty in the investigation was that some people who may have had information were unwilling to talk.

A renewed sense of hope emerged for the family in January 2025. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the formation of a new statewide Cold Case Unit, and Victoria Lacey’s homicide was one of the first five cases selected for review. The specialized unit, working in partnership with the Glendale Police Department, is equipped with advanced technology and offers a fresh perspective on the investigation. "Justice has no expiration date," Attorney General Mayes said when announcing the unit's creation.

Victoria's family continues to fight for the justice she was denied. Her sister Kaley wears a necklace containing some of Victoria's ashes as a reminder to stay strong in the long search for answers. "She was strong-willed, why shouldn’t I be strong-willed?" her brother Norman said. "I want justice for her. We all want justice." They plead for anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. As of February 2025, Victoria's killer remains at large. Anyone with information about the murder of Victoria Lacey is urged to contact the Arizona Attorney General's office or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.