Young mother found dead in the backseat of her car On a cold evening in Paterson, New Jersey, 24-year-old Shanaya Sheriee Coley was preparing to leave for her job as a nursing assistant. It was December 5, 2017, and as she headed to her charcoal gray Nissan Altima just before 11 p.m., her life took a violent and tragic turn. Witnesses reported seeing the young mother being stabbed and then forcibly pushed into her own vehicle, which then sped away from the area of Colonial Avenue.
Left behind in the parking lot were her glasses and a pool of blood, chilling evidence of the brutal abduction that had just occurred.
For months, her family and the community held onto the hope that she would be found alive. Coley was known as a determined single mother, balancing work and school to create a better life for her young son. The search for Shanaya and her vehicle continued into the new year, a painful and uncertain time for all who knew her. The investigation explored various leads, including conflicting reports from family members about a potential restraining order she may have taken out against an unknown individual.
The grim discovery was made on May 6, 2018, less than a mile from where she was last seen. A resident of a garden apartment complex on Marion Street alerted police to a car that had been left untouched in the parking lot for months, emitting a foul odor. Responding officers found Coley's Nissan Altima, and inside, they located her body in the backseat. An autopsy later confirmed that Shanaya Coley s death was a homicide, caused by multiple puncture and incision wounds. Despite the horrific details of her abduction and murder being brought to light, no arrests have been made in the case, leaving her loved ones still waiting for justice.
