Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

A local family continues to hurt months later over the death of their loved one, who was tragically killed on Hwy 165 minutes after seeing her boyfriend. Janecia Walker was killed on December 6, 2021 by an unknown driver. The driver struck Walker and left her dying on the ground in front of a local business on Hwy 165. News of Janecia's death shocked the community, especially the manner in which she was killed. She was on her way to her job. Since her death, it has been hard on the family, especially her mother, Sonya Wilford. Ms. Wilford is holding onto hope and faith that Monroe police will find the person who ended her daughter's life. It has been a hard journey for Wilford, as she said that for a long time, it seemed as if MPD wasn't doing much because the police department was not in direct communication with her to let her know the progress of the investigation, which greatly disappointed her. After all of these months since the incident, it got to the point where she had to make a complaint just to hear from somebody in the department. A detective assigned to Janecia's case hadn't had contact with Wilford since February of 2022. Wilford said that she got lucky one day when she made a trip to police headquarters. There she ran into Chief Vic Zordan in February of this year. She said that she was told to set up an appointment, as she finally had an opportunity to talk to Zordan about her situation in April. The chief assured Wilford that he would get officers to try to do more, as they were to put out more Crimestoppers videos and increase the reward in hopes that would help the case.

MPD had already viewed video footage from a local business on Hwy 165 but told Wilford that there wasn't enough evidence to establish an identity of the driver or the kind of vehicle that was allegedly used. The only information was that the vehicle was a car. That disappointed Wilford because the police told her they couldn't make out any possible damage to the vehicle, nor was there any indication that the license plate number could read, said Wilford. Wilford said that when she last saw Chief Zordan, she was told that his officers were doing everything that they could, except continue to post more Crimestoppers videos at least once a month, hoping for a lead, and asked if she wanted that. Wilford thought that to be a weird thing to suggest, but still, she has been waiting since that time, hoping that something would develop to finally bring justice to her daughter.

In the meantime, sources allege that a possible suspect may be known to MPD. Those sources say that the vehicle may not have been a car, but possibly an SUV or maybe a truck. That hasn't been established, but it gives some measure of hope to the family that MPD may become more aggressive in finding out who drove the vehicle that ended Janecia's life that sad December night. MPD may have additional information and is not ready to share it with Wilford and her family, as they hope MPD wants to get it right before making an arrest. In the meantime, Wilford says that she is dealing with the pain, as sometimes the mental anguish she goes through is very difficult for her and the family. A family continues to grieve as it continues to hope and pray that justice will one day come to Janecia so that the pain may be a little easier to bear. Pray for Sonya Wilford's family so that the truth will be known and justice will be done for Janecia.